Rahme brothers OFAC designation highlights endemic electricity corruption: Under Secretary Nelson

Rahme brothers OFAC designation highlights endemic electricity corruption: Under Secretary Nelson

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2023-04-05 | 14:07

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Rahme brothers' OFAC designation highlights endemic electricity corruption: Under Secretary Nelson

The US Treasury has designated two Lebanese businessmen, Teddy Rahme and Raymond Rahme, to the OFAC sanctions list, highlighting the endemic corruption within Lebanon's electricity sector. 

The announcement was made by Brian Nelson, the US Department of the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, during a press briefing on Wednesday evening.

The Rahme brothers were accused of using their companies to secure energy contracts through an opaque process and profiting at the expense of the Lebanese people. The US action supports those in Lebanon who have been calling for transparency and reform amidst corruption and mismanagement that pushed the country into crisis.

Since October 2019, the Lebanese elites have ignored the public's calls for transparency and reform, while shielding their own assets from depreciating by transferring their own money out of the country to other jurisdictions, said Nelson.

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on the Rahme brothers, who were linked to ZR Energy DMCC, a company contracted by the Lebanese government to import 150,000 tons of fuel to help avoid a fuel crisis. Instead of importing quality fuel, the company imported tainted fuel, which destroyed power stations and took