Former director general of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) in Zahle, Michel Afram. (Credit: Al Modon)
BEIRUT — Authorities arrested Michel Afram, former director of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) in Zahle, along with three employees, over alleged embezzlement and invoice forgery.
In a statement, State Security specified that the judicial investigation conducted by the Bekaa Regional Directorate "highlighted the existence of fictitious contracts for the purchase, through non-existent companies, of supplies and equipment intended for the institution’s scientific laboratories, for an estimated amount of several tens of thousands of dollars, which constitutes waste and embezzlement of public funds."
"On the instruction of financial prosecutor Judge Maher Chaito, the former director general was arrested along with the three employees," the statement added, specifying that a number of other employees "have been released on residence bail, with a travel ban."
"With the investigation now completed, the detainees and the seized evidence have been referred to the competent judiciary," State Security concluded.
In December 2025, President Joseph Aoun awarded Afram the National Order of the Cedar, with the rank of Knight, in recognition of his "professional integrity, dedicated for decades to the development and modernization of the agricultural sector in Lebanon."
Under Aoun's presidency, surprise inspections have been carried out in several public administrations as part of efforts to combat corruption. In April 2025, for example, the president conducted an inspection tour at the Port of Beirut and at the Dekwaneh vehicle registration center, which had remained closed for many months, notably as part of corruption investigations.
