Salah Ezzedine (born in 1962[1] in South Lebanon) is a Lebanese businessman who is accused and arrested for running a pyramid scheme. He had supposedly investments in oil, publishing, metals and television, and his businesses spread out from the Gulf to Africa.[2]
Salah Ezzedine | |
|---|---|
صلاح عز الدين | |
| Born | 1962 (age 61–62) |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Arrested for running a pyramid scheme |
Career
editBefore the fraud scandal occurred, he was known for his generosity and had built a stadium and largely financed a mosque for his hometown of Maaroub, Lebanon.[3][4] He was known as the owner of Dar el-Hadi, a publishing house that published books on Hezbollah and on religious themes based in the Shiite neighborhood of Dahieh, a stronghold of Hezbollah, and Al Mustathmir, a money management financial institution.[5]
Fraud
editEzzedine's close ties to Hezbollah led many Lebanese Shiite investors to invest with him, even though he did not show them any paperwork.[6][7] He named two of his businesses after the son of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.[8] Hundreds of Lebanese sold land or took money out of their retirement savings, joined by well-off investors, to invest hundreds of millions of dollars with him, as he promised annual returns of as much as 80%.[4][9]
In the ensuing debacle, financial downfall and declaring of his bankruptcy, Lebanese investors, mostly from the Shia community, lost hundreds of million dollars. Amounts involved vary between $700 million to 1.2 billion dollars was lost by Lebanese investors[10][11] Hezbollah security officers arrested Ezzedine on his way to the airport as he attempted to flee and made him transfer his remaining assets to Hezbollah before they turned him over to the Lebanese authorities.[12] Bankers said it was the largest fraud of its kind that Lebanon had ever seen.[6]
Ezzedine was charged with fraud and fraudulent embezzlement, a crime punishable by 15 years in prison, distributing invalid checks, and violating Lebanese fiscal laws in September 2009, and was jailed.[6][4][13]
References
edit- ^ Liberation: Salah Ezzedine, le «madoff» libanais (in French)
- ^ Andrew Lee Butters in Time magazine: Lebanon's Bernie Madoff - A Scandal Taints Hizballah
- ^ "Lebanon's Bernie Madoff: A Scandal Taints Hizballah". Time. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ^ a b c "Mideast 'Madoff' scandal shames Hezbollah". NBC News. September 23, 2009.
- ^ "A prominent Lebanese businessman was charged over the weekend," Khazen.
- ^ a b c "Billion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Rivets Lebanon," The New York Times.
- ^ "Salah Ezzedine, the Lebanese 'Madoff' ?," France 24.
- ^ "Hezbollah embarrassed by fraudster," Maclean's.
- ^ "The Mediterranean Madoff - Hundreds of millions of dollars disappear in the Salah Ezzedine scandal"". Executive Magazine. October 2, 2009..
- ^ Billion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Rivets Lebanon
- ^ Robert Fisk in The Independent: 'Lebanon's Madoff' bankrupted after bouncing $200,000 cheque to Hizbollah"
- ^ "On Iranian Influence in Africa The Role of the Lebanese Shiite Community in West Africa and Hezbollah Worldwide Activities," ACLU.
- ^ "Prosecutors Charge Lebanese Financier," The Wall Street Journal.