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Exclusive: For These Reasons… Shakshak Urges Dbeibeh Not to Take Any Measures to Implement His Decision to Cancel 25 Embassies and Diplomatic Missions Abroad

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Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the President of the Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, addressed to the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, urging him not to take any measures that would implement the decision to cancel 25 embassies and diplomatic missions abroad and merge them with other missions. This recommendation is based on the Bureau’s jurisdiction and in accordance with Law No. (19) of 2013 concerning its reorganization and the follow-up and execution of the observations included in the Bureau’s reports.

Shakshak explained that, based on the documents submitted to implement the said decision and to achieve the intended objectives efficiently and effectively, the Bureau recommends a comprehensive review before taking any measures or execution procedures. He emphasized that diplomatic missions abroad, as well as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Consular, International Cooperation, or Political Affairs, should refrain from taking any steps to implement or amend the decision or issue any executive orders until the following issues are fulfilled:

  • Review the financial, staffing, legal, political, sovereign, organizational, administrative, and procedural status of the missions proposed for cancellation, merger, or retention.
  • Inventory and evaluation of assets and properties such as vehicles, buildings, equipment and furnishings, administrative and diplomatic archives, financial records, entrusted assets, electronic devices, phones, and international numbers, etc.
  • Inventory and evaluation of human resources, including local staff, attachés, and advisors, with a clear determination of their salaries, benefits, entitlements, insurances, debts, and employment rights.

Once the above issues are addressed, employees from closed missions must be reassigned to other missions and their employment status handled properly, including contract terminations. Lease agreements, partnerships, guarantees, and contractual obligations should be reviewed, as well as the legal standing of the closed missions to ensure there are no legal impediments to their closure.

It is also essential to preserve classified archives and documents by legal means and to provide an implementation mechanism that ensures the diplomatic staff’s rights during their transition to new workplaces. Ongoing legal disputes raised by diplomatic staff in this regard must also be addressed. A comprehensive file for each closed diplomatic mission should be prepared, detailing its financial, administrative, and legal status, as well as the condition of the building, debts, entrusted assets, dues, and international subscriptions.

Additionally, merged missions must be reviewed, including diplomatic agreements with host countries concerning the status of missions, and host countries should be notified of the closure of diplomatic missions in accordance with legal protocols and international norms.

Exclusive: For These Reasons, Shakshak Suspends Two Officials from Brega Oil Company from Work

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Our source has exclusively obtained the decision issued by the Head of the Libyan Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, regarding the suspension of Saad Al-Din Al-Zaidi, in his capacity as Director of the Financial Department for the Western and Southern Regions at Brega Petroleum Marketing Company, and Mohamed Mansour Al-Fallah, Director of the Services Department at the same company.

This suspension comes due to their obstruction of the committee assigned to audit and review the accounts of Brega Petroleum Marketing Company by the General Administration for Oversight of the Energy Sector and Public Companies at the Bureau, and for violating the Audit Bureau’s regulatory law.

Exclusive: House of Representatives Reaffirms Shakshak’s Continuation as Head of Audit Bureau and Revokes Appointment of Atiya Abdulkarim as Deputy

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Our source has exclusively obtained a circular from the Libyan House of Representatives regarding the continued assignment of Khaled Shakshak to his duties as Head of the Audit Bureau, until the unification of sovereign institutions in a manner that ensures the proper functioning of the administration entrusted to him. The House also decided to fully revoke the decision to appoint Atiya Abdulkarim as Deputy of the Bureau.

According to the decision, the appointment of deputies for supervisory bodies and entities affiliated with the legislative authority and governed by law must be issued by the House of Representatives in an official session and in accordance with the provisions of effective legislation. Any other decisions issued in this regard shall not be recognized.

Deputy of the Audit Bureau Describes Shakshak’s Actions Against Malek Baayou, Convicted by Libyan and Tunisian Courts with Official Documents, as Arbitrary and Calls on the Attorney General to Intervene

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The Deputy of the Audit Bureau has sent a letter to the Attorney General regarding a complaint filed by Malek Baayou, General Manager of Al-Inma Oil & Gas Company, in which he described actions taken against him by the head of the Audit Bureau as arbitrary. He emphasized that the company he manages is a Libyan joint-stock company with private funds that are not subject to the Bureau’s oversight. He urged the Attorney General to address the measures and correspondence issued by the Bureau in light of the referenced judicial rulings.

The Public Prosecution had previously placed Malek Baayou on the travel watchlist, issued an arrest warrant against him, and referred him to the Attorney General’s Office based on ongoing investigations into a report filed by the head of the Audit Bureau.

It is noteworthy that Malek Baayou appeared before the specialized criminal division for financial corruption cases at the Tunis Primary Court alongside his wife. They were prosecuted for charges of aggravated breach of trust, money laundering by exploiting professional privileges, and complicity in these crimes.

The case originated from a complaint filed by the legal representative of a branch of Al-Inma Oil & Gas in Tunisia, alleging that the defendant caused financial harm and embezzled significant sums amounting to billions of millimes.

The Audit Bureau had previously issued a report uncovering corruption within Al-Inma Oil & Gas, detailing the procedures of a $30 million loan granted to the company through Al-Inma Financial Investments Holding Company. On May 30, 2018, the General Manager of Al-Inma Oil & Gas sent an official request (Letter No. 165-2018) to the fund’s Board of Directors, asking for the completion of the company’s capital with an amount of 56.5 million Libyan dinars.

The report exposed extensive corruption and violations, including Malik Baayou transferring funds from Al-Inma’s Tunisian branch to his own “single-member company” under the name “International Trade Complex,” with a transferred amount exceeding $6 million.

The Audit Bureau’s report also revealed coordination with the Attorney General’s Office regarding this case, leading to the suspension and referral of the General Director for Corporate Performance Evaluation to the Attorney General, as well as the suspension of several officials from the Social and Economic Development Fund. Several committees were formed to conduct audits and verification processes, including one tasked with assessing financial transactions at Al-Inma’s Tunisian branch, which was prevented from performing its duties by the branch’s management. Another committee was established to follow up on financial corruption related to the loan grant, initiating interrogation records for those involved in preparation for their referral to the Attorney General’s Office.

Exclusive: Deputy Head of Audit Bureau Responds to Shakshak on Failure to Hold Corrupt Officials Accountable, Calls It a Negative Message and a Denial of Responsibility

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In an exclusive correspondence obtained by our source, the Deputy Head of the Libyan Audit Bureau addressed Law No. 19 of 2013, affirming that it grants the Bureau sufficient powers and responsibilities to curb corruption.

He highlighted Article 17, which authorizes the Bureau to request that relevant entities take necessary measures to recover public funds that were misused or spent in violation of laws and regulations.

Article 18 mandates the Bureau’s head to alert the Prime Minister or the concerned minister about any avoidable financial losses or unnecessary burdens on the state’s resources, applying the same scrutiny to laws and regulations.

Article 19 empowers the Bureau’s head to compel any employee within the audited entities or any public service official to reimburse funds they unlawfully disbursed or authorized.

Under Article 20, if financial misconduct is detected, the Bureau’s head has the authority to suspend the entity’s accounts and place them under ongoing audit until the issues are resolved.

Article 47 allows the Bureau’s head to suspend employees in audited entities for up to three months, extendable by the relevant disciplinary council.

The Deputy Head reminded the Bureau’s President that for the past decade, the Bureau has held the authority of prior oversight over all state contracts, including procurement, construction, and financial commitments. He emphasized that every contract covered by this provision had received the Bureau’s approval, questioning its current stance on corruption accountability.

Exclusive: Addressing Shakshak, Deputy Head of the Audit Bureau: “The Bureau Must Never Become a Bargainer and Price Enforcer”

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Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the Deputy Head of the Libyan Audit Bureau, Atiyat-Allah Abdulkarim, to the Bureau’s President, criticizing a news post on the Bureau’s page that claimed an achievement of saving 2 billion dinars through the prior review of nearly 700 contracts. He described this claim as a deceptive achievement.

In his letter, he stated:
“We were neither consulted in drafting the news nor informed of its details. We have facts that prove this news to be false and misleading to public opinion, requiring repudiation.”

He added:
“The reported savings mainly resulted from reductions in contract prices due to the Bureau pressuring contracted companies regarding pricing. This approach constitutes a legal and professional disaster, as the Bureau’s role, as defined by law, is to conduct prior contract oversight within a framework that leads to only three possible decisions: approval, conditional approval, or refusal of approval.”

He continued:
“Under no circumstances should the Bureau turn into a bargainer and price enforcer. If that happens, it essentially assumes the role of the project owner. The real issue behind price inflation is the lack of genuine bidding processes, which should lead the Bureau to reject approval and request a proper tendering process to achieve the best prices and specifications. Furthermore, when the Bureau pressured contracted companies, it relied on unrealistic estimated prices, rather than official benchmark prices set by the state. This resulted in legitimizing an unfair and highly inflated contractual price. The companies accepted the reductions only to secure the contracts, as the revised prices remained significantly above the standard rates.”

He went on:
“It is baffling to announce cost savings after reviewing 700 contracts, when these contracts actually represent a limited number of projects. Reviewing the projects the Bureau oversaw throughout the year reveals that they do not exceed three projects in total. How can the Bureau’s President and the concerned department boast about achieving savings while neglecting the most crucial aspect of contracting—execution monitoring? Companies might manipulate specifications and implementation.”

He concluded:
“While you pride yourselves on savings achieved by pressuring companies on contract prices, you assigned the completion of the Bureau’s new headquarters to the Administrative Centers Development and Planning Authority—only for finishing work—at an exorbitant price of over 11,000 dinars per square meter. The Bureau should have applied the same price-pressure approach here to secure better rates. Moreover, the Bureau adopted a new flawed practice of approving contracts with reservations, even when the reservations were fundamental issues. Instead, the approval should have been outright denied.”

Exclusive: Deputy of the Audit Bureau Demands Legal Justifications from Shakshak for Expenditure Covering Bureau Meeting in Cameroon

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Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the Deputy of the Audit Bureau, Atiyat-Allah Abdulkarim, addressed to the Bureau’s President. The letter refers to a correspondence from the Director of the General Administration of Financial Affairs at the Bureau, which transferred 455,041 thousand dinars to the account of the Libyan Embassy in Cameroon to cover expenses incurred by the embassy on behalf of the Bureau.

The Deputy stated that this amount represents part of the expenses for the Bureau’s meeting, which was held at its own expense in Cameroon. He emphasized that the transfer had previously been rejected pending the formation of a committee to review all expenditures, assess the legitimacy of holding the meeting, and determine its approval from the public treasury.

Additionally, he called for clarification of the legal procedures relied upon for the expenditure and an investigation into those responsible for executing the payments despite prior objections.

Exclusive: Audit Bureau Deputy Writes to Head of the Bureau Regarding Two Decisions to Appoint an Employee with a Criminal Record to the Security and Safety Unit

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Our source has obtained an exclusive letter from the Deputy of the Audit Bureau to the Head of the Bureau concerning the issuance of two decisions appointing an employee with a criminal record to the Security and Safety Unit. The employee, who has been convicted and sentenced to one year and one month in prison, does not hold the necessary qualifications to perform the specialized technical tasks assigned to him, as stated in the letter. The appointment raises concerns about his capability to undertake any supervisory tasks, especially those related to the diplomatic mission in Tunisia, which were delegated to him as part of a committee formed by decisions numbered (352, 2024/506).

The Deputy added: “Your appointment of this employee through your decisions undermines the technical report regarding these sensitive supervisory tasks, as they were carried out by someone who does not meet the legal qualifications outlined in Law No. (19) of 2013 regarding the establishment and organization of the Bureau. This represents an unprecedented level of degradation in Libya’s financial oversight bodies, and is not even seen in neighboring countries or across African nations under the AFROSAI organization.”

The Deputy further stated: “We call for the restructuring of the inspection and review committee for the entities subject to the supervisory tasks under your decisions (337) (477) of 2024, and urge a return to the specialized technical department to propose a new decision for forming a committee for these sensitive tasks without interference from any senior management in the Bureau.”

Exclusive: Audit Bureau Deputy Demands Shakshak Withdraw the Decision to Send Security and Archive Employees to Turkey, Describing it as Legally and Morally Flawed

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Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the Deputy of the Audit Bureau to the Head of the Bureau, in which he demands the withdrawal of the decision to send security and archive employees to Turkey for periods ranging from 25 to 15 days, according to the mentioned decision, to attend training courses.

According to the Deputy’s statement in the correspondence, the decision is flawed both legally and morally. Legally, the decision was not presented to the Higher Training Committee, which is authorized to decide on all training activities and to fully study the file, including its feasibility, the entity to be contracted with, and the selection methods for candidates.

Adding that, from a professional and ethical standpoint, their position at the Head of the Bureau requires them to oversee such matters and not waste the Bureau’s resources on such issues.

The Deputy also noted that the estimated cost of sending over 40 employees, including travel allowances, travel tickets, and the cost of training to be paid to the unspecified entity in the decision, is expected to exceed 1.7 million Libyan dinars.

Furthermore, he mentioned that there is an attempt to manipulate and falsify the decision by relying on a letter from the Director-General of Human Resources, as referred to in the decision. The memorandum from the Director of the General Department of Human Resources, number 40-28, mentioned in your decision, is still under review and has not yet been approved.

Exclusive: Audit Bureau Raises No Objection to Completing Child and Spouse Grant for Q4 2024

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Our source has obtained an official letter from the Audit Bureau addressed to the Ministry of Social Affairs, stating that the Bureau has no objections to proceeding with the disbursement of the child and spouse grant for the fourth quarter of 2024, totaling 1.1 billion dinars.

The letter emphasizes the necessity of ensuring that bank account numbers match the registered family records in the grant disbursement system and that any non-matching or incomplete account details should be excluded.

Exclusive: Audit Bureau Deputy Calls on Shakshak to Investigate Cases of Workplace Exploitation Due to Close Ties Between Bureau Officials and State Authorities

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Our source has obtained a letter from Atiyatallah Hussein Abdulkarim, Deputy of the Libyan Audit Bureau, addressed to its President, Khaled Shakshak. The letter highlights concerns over an increasing number of informal meetings between Audit Bureau officials, members, and employees with ministers, deputies, board members, and top state officials. These interactions, according to the letter, occur without adherence to formal protocols, undermining the official communication system, which should be documented via official correspondence or government email.

Allegations of Workplace Exploitation

The Deputy stated that some Bureau officials and members have gained personal benefits through these connections. Notable cases include:

  • A former senior Bureau official securing a position in a state-owned investment company.
  • Another official being appointed as a member of the Central Bank of Libya.
  • Relatives of Bureau officials being sent abroad for education or given diplomatic posts, with full salaries paid despite their study leave, while other employees were denied similar opportunities.
  • State-funded medical treatments being granted to relatives of certain officials, while ordinary citizens were deprived of such services.

Call for Investigation

In response to these concerns, the Deputy requested:

  1. Assigning the Bureau’s Inspection Office to investigate all cases of workplace exploitation linked to the close ties between Bureau officials and state authorities.
  2. Requesting the Anti-Corruption Authority to complete the financial disclosure forms for all senior Audit Bureau officials.
  3. Forming a committee to develop new regulations governing official communication between the Bureau and state officials.

Exclusive: Audit Bureau Deputy Corresponds with Investment Authority and Central Bank Regarding the Disqualification of Mohamed Gergab from His Appointments

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Sada Economic has obtained a letter from Atiyatallah Hussein Abdulkarim, Deputy of the Libyan Audit Bureau, requesting the Chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority and the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya not to allow Mr. Reda Mohamed Gergab, who is seconded to the Investment Authority and appointed as a member of the Central Bank’s Board of Directors, to assume these positions.

This request is due to a conflict with the Audit Bureau’s law and its violation.

Public Prosecution Requests Audit Bureau to Provide Building Safety Evaluation

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Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the Public Prosecution addressed to the head of the Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, requesting details on the evaluation and safety measures of the Audit Bureau’s building, which is owned by the Libyan National Shipping Company.

The prosecution has asked the relevant department within the bureau to provide documentation related to the building’s safety assessment, the potential risks it poses to public safety, and any arrangements made with the company regarding this matter.

Exclusive: Shakshak Forms a Committee to Review Projects at Waha Oil Company

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Our source has obtained the decision of the President of the Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, to form a committee to review projects at Waha Oil Company.

The committee consists of: Azeddine Mohamed Hudud, Yassin Ahmed Al-Zaidi, Murad Mohammed Al-Ahyoul, Ahmed Ibrahim Akreem, and Ashour Milad Ashour.

Exclusive: Shriha: “A Meeting Between the CBL, the Audit Bureau, and the NOC on the Swap Issue… Hidden Details We Reveal”

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Oil expert Masoud Shriha spoke to our source, questioning: “Is the swap prohibited by Libyan or international law? No, there is no international or Libyan law that prohibits the use of the swap mechanism. More than 90 countries worldwide use it.”

He added: “Are there standards to regulate the swap? Yes, there is a regulatory mechanism for swaps according to international classification, which is lacking in the institution’s swap operations. Is there misuse of the swap according to international standards? Yes, there are significant deviations in the use of the swap, based on the data we all see, and its costs are very high.”

He also stated: “Is there a solution for better management of the swap? Yes, there is a solution to address all fuel-related issues as a single portfolio. We tried to communicate with everyone present at the meeting, including the Prime Minister, Mr. Abdulhamid al-Dbeibeh. However, I was refused an audience because I am the responsible party for the lawsuit regarding the citizenship issue against Mr. Farhat, and my salary has been stopped again. This is also due to my articles regarding the company Litasco, which is supplying adulterated gasoline, as reported by Mr. Imad Ben Rajab.”

He continued: “What do you expect regarding the future of halting the swap? Will it curb the waste of public funds and resolve the bottlenecks? The future events are connected to the butterfly theory, meaning solving one issue will open the door to others. I believe that smuggling will never stop, though I hope I am wrong. All these brief statements require deep analysis, and it’s ready. The issue needs to be handled as a unified portfolio and cannot be fragmented.”