The US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two top Lebanese contractors and a lawmaker close to Hezbollah over alleged large-scale corruption that undermined the rule of law in Lebanon.
Businessmen Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury were sanctioned for alleged corruption related to state contracts.
The Treasury said in a statement Khoury and Arab both received state contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including for garbage collection and disposal work, thanks to political connections.
Khoury had won a contract worth $142 million to operate a coastal landfill and has been "accused of dumping toxic waste and refuse into the Mediterranean Sea... all while failing to remedy the garbage crisis," according to the statement.
It said Khoury is a close business associate of US-designated Gebran Bassil, who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement and the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Arab, meanwhile, "served as an intermediary as of 2014 to broker a meeting between top Lebanese officials in advance of the Lebanese presidential election, in exchange for two government contracts valued at approximately $200 million," the Treasury statement said.
Lawmaker Jamil al-Sayyed was sanctioned for allegedly seeking to "skirt domestic banking policies and regulations" and transfer $120 million abroad, "presumably to enrich himself and his associates," the Treasury added.
“The Lebanese people deserve an end to the endemic corruption perpetuated by businessmen and politicians who have driven their country into an unprecedented crisis,” said the Treasury’s Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki.
“Now is the time to implement necessary economic reforms and put an end to the corrupt practices eroding Lebanon’s foundations. Treasury will not hesitate to use its tools to address impunity in Lebanon.”
