BEIRUT: Beirut’s Investigative Judge Sami Sedki Thursday filed indictments against 17 people, including public employees, on charges of embezzlement of public funds, fraud and bribery in the case of manipulating diesel quantities provided to public hospitals.
Judicial sources told The Daily Star that Sedki requested prison sentences ranging between three and 10 years with hard labor for 13 suspects, including the owner of the petroleum company which was contracted by the government to supply the hospitals and the company’s two accountants.
The judge also demanded prison sentences ranging between three months and two years to four of the defendants for allegedly defrauding the state and accepting bribes, the sources said.
The defendants were accused of direct involvement or complicity in manipulating the quantity of petroleum products and issuing fraudulent invoices.
Several employees at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital were among the defendants.
In the indictment, Sedki charged that the medical facility’s chief purchaser, identified as Soad M., received bribes ranging between $2,000 and $3,000 from the company’s owner once every two months, and facilitated the fraudulent invoicing.
According to the indictment, the petroleum company manipulated its tankers’ meters to show that 20,000 liters of diesel had been supplied, while only 5,000 liters were actually pumped.
The Internal Security Forces said two months ago that they had arrested the owner of Desert Petroleum, a company providing government institutions, including the ISF, with fuel oil, accusing the firm of defrauding the state.
Police also said it confiscated several fuel-transporting tankers which contained secret storage areas and manipulated meters.
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