Lebanese Man Makes off with $3 Million in Fraud Scheme
A Lebanese man has disappeared after gathering around $3 million from investors whom he had promised to return their deposits with very high interest rates, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper identified the man from the eastern town of Bednayel as A. Safar, who convinced the investors in his village and nearby towns to provide him with cash in return of up to 40 percent monthly interest.
Safar was jailed in the 1980s for failing to pay his debts. But he travelled to Saudi Arabia after getting out of prison and later returned to Lebanon to open a company that sells construction and painting material in 2006.
Rumor has it that the suspect established his company from the money that he had failed to pay in the past.
But Safar became notorious again and the judiciary closed his business and seized several other properties, As Safir said.
According to the newspaper, there are around 10 victims from Bednayel and scores in nearby towns.
Bednayel residents claim that Safar escaped after the value of the interests he had to pay to the investors reached around LL50 million ($33,000).
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