Anti-corruption commission probes five cases involving ‘disappearance of millions’

AMMAN — The Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) on Thursday referred five cases related to the alleged disappearance of millions of dinars to the relevant judiciary bodies, one of which allegedly involved a Lower House member.

An official source from the JIACC revealed that the illegal practices have been reported in the United Arab Investors Co., Plc. (UAIC) and Investors and Eastern Arabs for Industrial and Real Estate Investments (IEAI), as well as in the Aqaba Development Company (ADC) and the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

In the UAIC, the reported financial irregularities and violations committed by the board of directors have cost the company some JD28 million at least, affecting the 10,000 shareholders, according to Petra. 

Terminating agreements without a legal base has cost the IEAI some JD6 million, the news agency added.    

As for the ADC, a number of financial irregularities that have caused losses estimated at JD16.5 million, while the violations reported in the NARC referenced hundreds of thousands of Jordanian Dinars allocated to projects already funded by foreign grants, according to Petra.  

The Lower House member, who is also a lawyer, has been accused of forging proxy documents to seize assets of absent Jordanians, Petra said. 

Besides counterfeiting, the MP was also reported to be charged with fraud related to the issuance of a Jordanian nationality for a connection, Petra reported. 

The source said that “no one is above the law”, pledging to question all those involved irrespective of their offices.