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Lebanon Contracts New York Firm for Forensic Audit of Central Bank

VOA News

   Lebanon's government announced Tuesday that a New York-based company
   will carry out a forensic audit of its central bank accounts to
   determine where massive amounts of money went in a country on the brink
   of financial collapse.
   The audit "will represent a drastic transformation on the path to
   uncovering what happened at the financial level in terms of waste and
   theft," Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab told the cabinet.
   Alvarez & Marsal will undertake the audit, according to Lebanese
   President Michel Aoun's office Tuesday. The New York firm, a turnaround
   specialist, worked with Lehman Brothers after the investment bank filed
   for bankruptcy.
   The government also contracted two other companies, KPMG and Oliver
   Wyman, for traditional accounting audits, said the presidential palace.
   Lebanon's protracted economic crisis worsened after mass demonstrations
   began in October, with millions of Lebanese protesting persistent
   corruption and economic mismanagement. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit
   the country in March, the country locked down and the government
   defaulted on its sovereign debt for the first time.

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