The Tripoli Criminal Court ruled against two officials of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Brega Oil Marketing Company, on charges of abusing job authorities in importing vehicle fuel in mid-2022, sentencing them to 30 months in jail and fining them 10.000 Libyan dinars each, in addition to obliging them to pay back 147.524.630 dinars, according to a statement by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday.
The official of the General Department of International Marketing at the NOC, and the Director of the General Department of Supply and Maritime Transport at the Brega Oil Marketing Company were the culprits, the statement said, adding that the court acquitted the Director of the Supply Department at the NOC of multiple accusations.
The Public Prosecutor's Office conducted investigations into "reports describing the quality of vehicle fuel supplied to the country in mid-2022 and its connection to the instability of the internal combustion engines' work efficiency at the time of product distribution."
The investigations revealed the abuse of the powers of the job assigned to the two officials by deliberately not contracting producing companies, receiving quantities of fuel that do not comply with the Libyan standard, and relying on immediate supply contracts that do not guarantee the maintenance.
“The two officials’ behavior caused damage to public funds, and was linked to incidents of damage to citizens' properties as a result of the negative impact of the type of fuel used to run the engines of their vehicles." The statement reads.
The fuel crisis surfaced in mid-2022 when thousands of cars broke down in various Libyan cities due to the use of low-quality fuel. The Public Prosecutor's Office investigated and arrested a number of company officials and brought them to trial whose decision was made on Sunday.
