The Lebanese public has fallen victim to what could be described as the greatest theft in human history.
The amount of stolen funds tied to corrupt practices committed by Lebanese politicians and their business partners since 1990 is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Narrower estimates point to a figure of around $80bn (not to be confused with the separate but related gap in the financial sector, most recently estimated at $65bn, caused in large part by this corruption).
These levels of embezzled funds exceed the pre-crisis GDP levels of Lebanon. Imagine Japan having over $5 trillion dollars stolen from its treasury, or the US public being deprived of over $21tn by politicians and cronies.
Few nations in history have had such extravagant levels of wealth stolen.
In terms of recovering lost stolen funds, there are legal channels by which funds that can be proven to involve corrupt practice can be returned. It has happened before in Switzerland but is subject to political pressure.
Theft of Lebanese public wealth occurred in many different shapes and forms, with some appearing more illegal and greater in sums then others. Ultimately, corruption can extend to all levels of public and private sector life.
Corruption can occur at the level of ministries and municipalities, where funds are misappropriated through invoicing tricks, commissions, concealed auctioning procedures, and harmful policies being applied due to special lobbying interests (electricity sector deficits for example).
It simultaneously occurs in the private sector, with companies benefitting from overcharged contracts, access to monopolistic or oligopolistic markets, sidestepping regulations, profits based on rent, smuggling and unfair tax and credit policies.
Citizens can also themselves be perpetrators of corruption, with tax evasion, smuggling and even use of a “wasta” among other forms.
While some practices involve stealing wealth from the treasury’s expenses, others involve not contributing one’s fair share of taxes to the treasury.
Ultimately, all these behaviors go to reduce the overall aggregate wealth of the nation, creating pressure on public debt along with all its ramifications.
While Lebanese journalists have uncovered many clear traces of corruption, the role of holding perpetrators of corruption accountable is the work of the Lebanese judiciary.
Returning part of the stolen funds is a small but necessary bit of justice. It will help restore confidence in the Lebanese rule of law and help reduce part of the burden on Lebanese citizens who have seen their wealth stolen.