Central Bank of Libya (CBL) governor Al-Siddiq Al-Kabeer has ordered a financial committee tasked with tracking money laundering to investigate allegations made by the Audit Bureau accusing firms of using letters of credit (L/Cs) in foreign currency smuggling operations.

Strangely, the Audit Bureau provided L/Cs to the firms they now accuse of smuggling.

Evidence please

Al-Kabeer has urged the Audit Bureau to send the evidence it has against the firms to the financial committee so it can take legal action if the allegations are substantiated.

The CBL appears mystified by the Audit Bureau's allegations. "We find it strange that the Audit Bureau agreed to give the letters of credit in the first place and then accused the firms of corruption," a statement by the bank says.

More criticism

The CBL is also critical of the bureau's decision to publicise its allegations against the firms.

"The CBL has qualms about the publishing of the names of [the accused] firms by the Audit Bureau before due investigations as it could hinder the ongoing probe and lead to [the] loss and hiding of evidence," the statement added.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.