Libya bank employees detained for 600,000 euro embezzlement

The manager and five other employees at a Libyan bank were detained for embezzling hundreds of thousands of euros and replacing them with fake notes.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab Staff

12 January, 2022

The six staff members were detained following an investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office [Getty- file photo]

Libya’s Public Prosecution on Tuesday ordered the detention of six employees of the Jumhouria Bank on charges of embezzling 600,000 euros (US$682,000) and replacing the money with counterfeit notes.

The Public Prosecution Office conducted investigations into the bank's branch in Zuwara in western Libya, the country's attorney general office said in a Facebook post late Tuesday.

The branch manager, his assistant, the head of the treasury, and three other employees are accused of stealing 600,000 euros and replacing the funds with fake notes, the attorney general's office said.

It was not clear how long they would be kept in custody before being put on trial.

After a decade of instability, Libya was supposed to hold its first round of presidential elections on December 24 last year.

However, the vote was delayed over bitter arguments over divisive candidates and a disputed legal framework.

The country remains deeply divided between various warring factions, while war has left the country's economy and most of its infrastructure in ruins.