(NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA) — Former Lebanese-Australian politician Eddie Obeid has been ordered to surrender his Australian and Lebanese passports following fears that Obeid could flee to Lebanon amid criminal charges for misconduct while in public office.
Obeid, 71, is accused of corruption and misusing his position as Member of Parliament to benefit family financial interests in Australia.
In June 2014, a commission recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute Obeid for misconduct in public office over his attempts to influence bureaucrats and labor colleagues to benefit his family.
Obeid’s family have property in Lebanon and five regions of Australia, including coastline cafes in New South Wales and Namibia. They also own a company that exports live sheep to Syria and Iraq.
Obeid was charged with misconduct after the Independent Commission Against Corruption found he corruptly lobbied former Maritime NSW boss Steve Dunn over cafe leases his family secretly owned in Australia.
The former lawmaker is a dual Australian and Lebanese citizen with business and property ties to Lebanon. Media reports say he was building a sandstone mansion in his ancestral hometown of Matrit, Lebanon, last year.
Australian Prosecutor Daniel Noll told the court that Obeid had a “large personal fortune” and “substantial property” in Lebanon.
He believed Obeid posed an “unacceptable risk” of fleeing which would require him to be held in custody.
Australian media reports that Obeid faces serious charges that are likely to result in a jail term if found guilty.