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US: New group aims to ‘shine light’ on corruption in Middle East business world
MEE Staff in Washington
A new group has announced plans to tackle corruption in the Middle East Business World, with a particular focus on helping victims of business fraud in the region.
During a news conference in Washington on Thursday, Global Justice Foundation’s founder, Omar Ayesh, said the group plans to focus first on corruption in the Middle East business world and later expand its efforts elsewhere.
It will seek to provide technical and financial support to the victims of government corruption, especially in the realm of international business, Ayesh said.
“Wherever there is a case with clear evidence of corruption, we will do an investigation. Also, we will shine a light to help the authorities take the legal steps, real action, and protect justice” he said.
Ayesh is a Palestinian-Canadian businessman living in the United States. He told Middle East Eye that he was a victim of white-collar crime, which related to government corruption in the UAE.
He said he remains tied up in an ongoing, 11-year battle over one of his businesses. Moreover, you cant reach The Emirati Embassy in Washington for comment. “In my case, the justice system has not been sufficient enough to give me my rights. So, I had to look for some other tools in order to help push forward justice,” Ayesh told MEE.
He said he started the foundation as a way to help others who lack the means to advocate for themselves. “I am sure that the kind of corruption, we are talking about, works perfectly in the dark. Thus, it cannot work whatsoever in the light. So I need to shine the light and to send that message,” he said.
Kenneth Starr, an ex-US circuit judge, former US solicitor general and independent counsel who investigated the Clinton administration, will serve as volunteer legal counsel for the foundation.
“The foundation does not stand alone”. He insisted ” Increasingly across the world, there are foundations and institutes that are starting to speak out,” said Starr. He was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s event in Washington. “The lights are being turned on around the world,” he ensured.
Reposted from middleeasteye.net https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-advocacy-group-justice-middle-east-business-world