Two associations filed a complaint on Tuesday in France to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) against caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, accusing him of fraudulently building up assets in the country, a source close to the case told AFP on Wednesday.
"We—Najib Mikati and the members of the family—have always acted in strict compliance with the law," he retorted in a statement issued by his press office, claiming to have "received information that a large-scale campaign will be launched against him as of tomorrow (Thursday), in local and foreign media." He indicated that "the campaign has been prepared through journalistic questions received by the press office."
"The origin of our family assets is entirely transparent, legitimate and in accordance with the law," he insisted.
The complaint was filed by two French civil society groups campaigning against corruption.
"Najib Mikati is believed to have acquired various real estate assets in France and abroad via multiple structures and through extremely large financial transfers with, in particular, his brother Taha Mikati," according to the two associations.
The complaint targets the offenses of money laundering, receiving stolen goods or aiding and abetting, in addition to criminal conspiracy, all committed as part of an organized group—an aggravating circumstance.
The caretaker Prime Minister, who made his fortune in telecommunications, "is for the Lebanese public, along with his brother Taha and all those close to them, the embodiment of the clientelism and conflict of interest that have led Lebanon to its downfall," write the plaintiffs, noting that "since the mid-1990s, corruption has been intimately linked to the functioning of the state."
Children of the Mikati brothers are also targeted as potential receivers of the allegedly laundered money.
The Serail press release, which refutes all allegations of corruption against Mikati and his family, stresses that the latter has "not received any complaint, through the justice system or its lawyers, concerning the charges mentioned in the media."
"We—Najib Mikati and the members of the family—have always acted in strict compliance with the law," he retorted in a statement issued by his press office, claiming to have "received information that a large-scale campaign will be launched against him as of tomorrow (Thursday), in local and foreign media." He indicated that "the campaign has been prepared through journalistic questions received by the press office."
"The origin of our family assets is entirely transparent, legitimate and in accordance with the law," he insisted.
The complaint was filed by two French civil society groups campaigning against corruption.
"Najib Mikati is believed to have acquired various real estate assets in France and abroad via multiple structures and through extremely large financial transfers with, in particular, his brother Taha Mikati," according to the two associations.
The complaint targets the offenses of money laundering, receiving stolen goods or aiding and abetting, in addition to criminal conspiracy, all committed as part of an organized group—an aggravating circumstance.
The caretaker Prime Minister, who made his fortune in telecommunications, "is for the Lebanese public, along with his brother Taha and all those close to them, the embodiment of the clientelism and conflict of interest that have led Lebanon to its downfall," write the plaintiffs, noting that "since the mid-1990s, corruption has been intimately linked to the functioning of the state."
Children of the Mikati brothers are also targeted as potential receivers of the allegedly laundered money.
The Serail press release, which refutes all allegations of corruption against Mikati and his family, stresses that the latter has "not received any complaint, through the justice system or its lawyers, concerning the charges mentioned in the media."
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