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Ten days after the interim Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazni, handed over to the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, the final version of the forensic financial audit agreement with “Alvarez & Marsal”, Wazni signed the contract yesterday. The formula signed by the Minister of Finance came out differently from what the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, expected, according to sources, after he asked Wazni to comply with the proposals of the Legislative and Consultation Commission: to allow the Egmont Group be a member of the official Lebanese committee that will follow up on “Álvarez’s” work for supervision. On the extent to which the Special Investigation Commission adheres to the mandatory standards that regulate its work, and the participation of the Advisory Commission in its capacity as independent legal adviser to the State, in the committee that will monitor the work of the company. At that time, Wazni “expressed his response to President Aoun’s request, but referred to the assumption that Álvarez would not accept these amendments, indicating that he would abide by what the company accepts.” However, the contract, which amounts to $ 2,220,000, in its current form, will produce an initial report that will come without content and without accountability due to Lebanese laws that restrict the work of the company, in particular the laws of bank secrecy, cash and credit. The Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, began attacking him just before the start of the audit. According to the information, Salameh’s lawyers prepared a study that concluded that the Ministry of Finance is not authorized to sign on behalf of Banque du Liban, as it enjoys financial independence in accordance with article 13 of the Currency and Credit Law.
The foregoing paves the way for the ruler to refuse to respond to the requests of the “Álvarez” company, which is supposed to start its work immediately after the contract is signed, or within a maximum period of four or five days. The audit team (usually 16 people, but the permanent team dealing with the audit process consists of 9 people) must complete the initial criminal investigation report within ten weeks of the contract signing date. Sources close to President Aoun indicated that he was “displeased with the final wording of the contract that was signed yesterday.”
Source: News
