Tamraz on trial in Lebanon and US
Lebanon, Business, 7/16/1997

While he is under scrutiny in the US for campaign contributions to President Clinton, a Lebanese military court on July 9 resumed the trial of fugitive Lebanese-American businessman Roger Tamraz and three alleged accomplices on charges of passport fraud in 1987.

The trial took place in the presence of only one defendant. Tamraz and two others are believed to be living abroad.

The defendant, General Security inspector Beshara Dagher, told the court that a wanted defendant, Antoine Ayoub, who is also a General Security officer, had stolen 1,000 blank passports from General Security 's headquarters.

"I was just a guard of the premises when the theft took place," Dagher said. He accused Ayoub of stealing General Security stamps which were later used in issuing the passports and selling them.

The trial was adjourned until July 16 to hear three witnesses.

In addition to Tamraz and Ayoub, businessman Mario Simonedes is wanted in the case.

Tamraz, who is believed to have masterminded the passport forgery with Simonedes, is also sought in connection with a 200 million US dollar bank embezzlement case and is also under scrutiny in a US probe into election campaign donations for President Clinton.

Lebanon has issued two international arrest warrants against Tamraz on charges of fraud, embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy since 1989.

A US federal grand jury is investigating whether Tamraz offered donations to the Democratic Party in return for a review of a pipeline project in the Caucuses area. Tamraz gave more than 170,000 US dollars in 1995 and 1996 and visited the White House six times last year.

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search