Failed arrests. But if he was through with Lebanon, Lebanon wasn’t through with Tamraz. A report by the Lebanese Banking Commission, “listed the illegal practices in Tamraz’ empire, including wrongdoings in balance sheets and transfer of funds to shady establishments abroad (e.g., to tax heavens such as the Ba-hamas),” Dib says. “By 1988, the Milcher Group was in trouble, while Bank Al-Mashrek, the First Phoenician Bank, and Credit Libanais were declared bankrupt and rescued by the central bank.”

Lebanese authorities say Tamraz, as president of Al-Mashrek Bank, was responsible for the disappearance of about $154 million, and the courts convicted him of embezzlement in absentia.

But locking him up has proven to be much more difficult. Since 1989, Leba-non has repeatedly issued Interpol warrants against Tamraz, with no success. His extradition has been limited by the extent to which countries have agreed to cooperate, and by a lack of extradition treaties with foreign governments, ac-cording to Dib.

In 1997, police arrested Tamraz in Georgia, under a warrant from Interpol. But Lebanon’s request for his extradition went unanswered. At the same time, Al-Mashrek’s lawyer Nasser el-Had announced to the press that the evidence against Tamraz showed “that he is the biggest ever financial criminal in the history of Lebanon.”

Dib says the Georgian authorities gave in to pressure from the American embassy to release him and to guarantee his safe passage out of the counrty (al-though the US state department denies this). In the case of his Moroccan arrest,  it’s equally unclear how Tamraz escaped being returned to Lebanon. “I am guessing that it could be a combination of Tamraz’ own connections … coupled with a probable lack of a legal venue for handing over individuals between Mo-rocco and Lebanon,” Dib says.

Tamraz has consistently denied the charges. Although he has conceded that he owes Lebanon $22 million, he insists that $163 million is owed to him, and that his convictions were the result of political pressure.

When quizzed by the Washington Post in 1997 about the affair, Tamraz replied, “No civilized nation has taken the banking charges seriously.” 

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