Audit Bureau Report: Financial Violations Exceeding 100 Million in Dollars and Dinars at the Libyan Embassy and Consulate in Tunisia
The Audit Bureau report revealed expenditures at the Libyan Embassy in Tunisia, where the embassy approved the disbursement of USD 37.9 thousand as salaries for the period from September to December for a diplomatic employee. It was found that the payments covered a period during which the individual was absent from work, without any justification.
The report added that, pursuant to a payment authorization, an amount of USD 157.5 thousand was paid as salaries for the period from August 2010 to December 31, 2011, to a diplomatic employee. It was noted that there was no evidence that the individual had actually commenced work at the embassy. The total amounts paid to tourism companies and hotels reached 1.4 million Tunisian dinars.
The report also clarified that an amount of USD 192.9 thousand was paid to AFA Aviation Academy, representing settlement of nine invoices from a training deposit for the training of pilots, engineers, and technicians affiliated with the Air Ambulance Services Authority, based on an agreement concluded between the Authority’s Director General and the academy. It was noted that the contract did not specify the currency of payment for the training fees, and it was found that all invoices were paid in foreign currency, although they should have been paid in the local currency, the Tunisian dinar. The opening balance and deposited amounts related to overseas medical treatment debts amounted to TND 107.7 thousand.
The report continued: an advance of approximately TND 8.2 million was disbursed to the medical office for patient treatment, and another advance of approximately TND 10 million to the Emergency Medicine and Support Center. Subsequently, an amount of TND 3.1 million was returned from the Center’s advance. The balance of the medical treatment debt deposit account amounted to TND 286.9 thousand. The value of disbursements that were settled reached approximately TND 64.6 million, while unsettled disbursements paid during 2022–2023 and carried forward to 2024 amounted to LYD 38.1 million. The report also revealed the existence of a transfer deposited into the Emergency Medicine and Support Center’s deposit account, representing an advance from the medical treatment debt deposit in the amount of TND 10 million.
The report added that total expenditures for the wounded treated by the Emergency Medicine and Support Center amounted to TND 22.1 million, and that there were files for a number of wounded patients at certain clinics submitted to the medical office that were not reviewed by the Center—nine files valued at TND 217.1 thousand. The opening balance and deposited amounts in the medical office account for patient treatment amounted to TND 50.5 million, while the total value of payments transferred from the patient treatment deposit to service providers—clinics, pharmacies, and laboratories—reached TND 79.9 million.
The Audit Bureau report also revealed expenditures of the military attaché’s office at the embassy, including the disbursement of USD 50 thousand as an advance from the students’ account (USD), based on a letter from the military attaché, and its conversion into the Tunisian dinar account in the amount equivalent to TND 151.5 thousand. The funds were spent on employee salaries, with the remaining balance returned to the students’ account in Tunisian dinars, and the remaining portion of the advance closed from the Ministry of Defense deposit account (Chapter Two allocations) and transferred to the students’ account in the amount of USD 30.1 thousand, without evidence of obtaining the necessary approvals. Based on a cable issued by the Director of the Treasury Department No. (312) addressed to financial controllers at Libyan embassies in Bulgaria and Tunisia—referencing a letter from the Director General of the Military Medical Services Authority requesting the transfer of a financial deposit related to Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous wounded from Bulgaria to Tunisia in the amount of EUR 1 million—payment authorizations were issued to settle outstanding debts of Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous wounded at several clinics totaling TND 1.054 million.
The report continued: through examination and review, several observations were noted, including the absence of a medical report confirming that the patient was among the wounded of the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous operation. Upon reviewing the handover report of the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous deposit between the medical office and the military attaché—between Dr. (A. M. S.) and the embassy’s military attaché (A. A.)—it was found that the debts owed to Sakkara Clinic after discount amounted to approximately TND 181 thousand, while the committee’s report included an amount of TND 136.047 thousand. In addition, invoices related to 2023 were submitted with a value of TND 224,641. Under Payment Authorization No. (1/2), an amount of TND 8,881 was paid to Al-Zahraa Clinic for the treatment of three patients; it was noted that the beneficiaries were classified as wounded and that most of the invoices and accompanying medical documents dated back to 2022, without evidence that they had not been paid during that year. Under Payment Authorization No. (1/3) dated January 24, 2023, an amount of TND 20,054 was paid to Al-Manar Clinic for the treatment of three patients; it was noted that the attachments to the payment authorization were not stamped to indicate disbursement, in violation of Article (105) of the Budget, Accounts, and Warehouses Regulation.
The report added that expenditures from the consulate’s account in Tunisian dinars during the years 2021 to 2023 amounted to TND 9.2 million. The consulate repeatedly purchased fuel coupons from Ajil Company; however, examination revealed that payments were made to the National Oil Distribution Company against its invoices for fueling consulate vehicles. An amount of EUR 12,775 was paid to a Bosnian citizen engaged to work with the committee and employed under a local contract at the embassy, for multiple assignments to Turkey and Serbia—constituting a violation of the law on economic crimes. The head of the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous Wounded Committee in the field (N. A. A.) forwarded correspondence related to renting an office for the committee’s work and charged several fictitious expenses—equipment, fuel, and heating—for the purpose of disbursement and approval by embassy officials. Payment Authorization No. (12/4) in the amount of EUR 50,000, paid to a member of the Wounded Committee in the Bosnia field (A. B. S.) for travel, accommodation, and subsistence expenses in Turkey, was found to relate to the Turkish field and not to the treatment of wounded in Bosnia. Payment Authorization No. (12/15) in the amount of EUR 66,500, paid to the head of the Wounded Committee in the Bosnia field (N. A. L.) for travel, accommodation, and subsistence expenses in Turkey, was likewise found to pertain to the Turkish field and not to the treatment of wounded in Bosnia.
