The Libyan Audit Bureau (LAB) has reportedly said that at least eleven Libyan companies are known to have fraudulently smuggled foreign currency abroad through fake import transactions.

According to the Libya Herald, the companies had opened letters of credit (L/Cs) to import goods based on the official exchange rate of $1 to 1.30 Libyan dinars (LD1.30), instead of the current black market rate of LD 2.50, but had shipped empty containers into Libya.

Bogus L/Cs

Reports say the LAB has also prohibited 25 Libyan companies, 42 Libyan individuals, and 12 foreign companies from transferring foreign currency, opening Libyan L/Cs or receiving Libyan L/Cs.

The bureau has also alleged in a report seen by local media that local commercial banks were opening bogus L/Cs.

Banks complicit

The report named at least two Tripoli-based banks as having opened bogus L/Cs.

Alongside the Central Bank of Libya, the LAB has been involved in a protracted anti-corruption drive aimed at preserving Libya's fast depleting hard currency reserves.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.