Lebanon is investigating the embezzlement of $318,000 from its embassy in Ukraine

The Lebanese judiciary is investigating the embezzlement of $318,000 from the country's embassy in Ukraine , a judicial official told AFP on Monday, while the Foreign Ministry is working to reduce the expenses of its missions in light of the economic collapse .

Since September, suspicions of embezzlement have surfaced, and the Lebanese judiciary opened investigations regarding them later, according to which Ambassador Ali Daher, who was restrained from the embassy, was interrogated several times.

The judicial official familiar with the case said, "The embezzlement affected the embassy's fund, which is fed by passport renewal fees for children of the Lebanese community residing in Ukraine, agencies, marriage contract fees, and others."

He pointed out that "preliminary estimates showed that the value of the embezzled funds amounted to 318 thousand US dollars."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs restrained the ambassador's hand and put him at his disposal, pending the end of the ongoing investigations, after summoning him and his assistant to Beirut.

According to the same source, the assistant disappeared from view after attending one interrogation session, after which the Public Prosecution Office of the Court of Cassation issued a “report of investigation and investigation against the assistant, and a decision to prevent him from traveling with his Ukrainian wife.”

According to preliminary investigations, it was found that the assistant was depositing money in his personal account in a Ukrainian bank, while sending a letter to the Ministry informing it of transferring the money to its account.

According to the source, "the statements of the ambassador and his assistant in front of the investigators contradicted each other."

The official stated that the ministry "did not check these transfers, nor did it review the embassy or inform it that the money did not reach its account in Lebanon."

The investigation is also looking into suspicions about the actual value of the ambassador's house rent in Kiev.

A diplomatic source in Beirut told AFP that "there are ongoing judicial investigations about a financial case at the Ukrainian embassy."

He pointed out that the work is basically suspended at the embassy, after the start of the war in Ukraine.

And in light of the economic collapse in Lebanon since the fall of 2019, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a proposal last year to suspend the work of 17 missions around the world in order to reduce expenses, but the government did not take a decision in this regard.

"Currently, expenditures and the number of employees are being reduced to reduce the burden as much as possible," the diplomatic source said.

The economic collapse befell the state institutions, whose employees’ salaries shrank dramatically due to the loss of 98 percent of the lira’s value against the dollar.