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Jordan Convicts Ex-Minister for Oil Refinery Bribery | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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AMMAN (AFP) – A military tribunal sentenced a former finance minister and three other Jordanians to three years in jail on Tuesday for bribery in a graft case at the country’s oil refinery, a court official said.

Ex-minister and refinery management committee head Adel Kudah was convicted along with the facility’s ex-executive director Ahmed Rifai, businessmen Khaled Shahin and a former economic adviser in the premier’s office, Mohammed Rawashdeh.

“The state security court decided not to send them to jail them because they will appeal the verdict in 30 days,” the official told AFP.

The four were arrested on March 3 and went on trial on April 5, after their assets were frozen. But they were released on April 25 on bail of 150,000 dinars (211,000 dollars) each.

The case involves alleged graft payments as part of a 2.1-billion-dollar project to upgrade the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company which runs the Arab state’s sole refinery.

Kudah, Rifai and Rawashdeh were accused of rigging the process to secure the contract for a New Jersey-based company that was represented by Shahin.

Shahin “promised to provide the three other suspects with financial benefits and privileges in return for information about the refinery and tendering process,” the chargesheet read.