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'Izzeddine's 'Fraud' - Hizbullah Attacked.

Article Excerpt
The alleged fraud case of Salah Izzeddine and his links to Iran's IRGC and Hizbullah on Sept. 3 became the subject on which their March 14 foes seized - with their media calling him "Lebanon's Madoff", a reference to the convicted US mega-fraudster Bernard Madoff. Izzeddine, who among other things ran a publishing house based in Hizbullah's Shi'ite stronghold in a Beirut suburb, had been taken into custody as legal charges against him were handled by a court.

It was said later in the week that Izzeddine had been forced by Hizbullah to surrender himself to the Lebanese authorities because, allegedly, he had embezzelled the Shi'ite group as well as lost hundreds of millions of dollars belonging to Hizbullah MPs. These excluded hundreds of millions said to belong to the IRGC leadership in Iran. Hizbullah's leading MP, Muhammad Ra'd, was said to have lost $100,000 invested with Izzeddine. Amin Sherri, a member of Hizbullah's Politburo, is said to have lost about $500,000 to $1m invested with Izzeddine. The Beirut press has reported a longer list of top Hizbullah figures who lost money with Izzeddine. It was said that the losers have been angry with Hizbullah leader Nasrullah for having backed Izzeddine, and are asking him to compensate them. But with the flow of Iranian money to Hizbullah drying up, there seems to be little Nasrullah can do in this situation. The scandal has certainly shaken Hizbullah to the core. March 14 MP Ziad al-Qadri, a young lawyer...