Bassam Mawlawi, the Minister of Interior and Municipalities in the current caretaker government, referred Riad Yamak to public prosecution on Wednesday, June 8th.
Riad Yamak, who has been Mayor of Tripoli since 2019, was under investigation for alleged misuse of public funds.
The allegation saw the light after members of the Tripoli Municipality filed a complaint against Yamak. He has been referred to the Financial Public Court and the Audit Bureau by Minister Mawlawi.
Some Lebanese people, however, believed this news to be ironic since it comes after Minister Mawlawi was himself accused of distributing bonuses “arbitrarily” to some of his employees.
Al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday, June 8th, that Mawlawi distributed bonuses worth LBP 525 million as compensation owing to the work done during the parliamentary elections.
According to Al-Liwaa’s report, which also stated that some employees’ bonuses reached LBP 140 million, Mawlawi’s decision breaks the employment law, which specifies that the cap for bonuses allowed for employees must not exceed 75% of their salary.
