Haddad Linked to "Money-Laundering"

Bright, a former Finance Minister in the regime of exiled former President Charles Taylor, is quoted in the report as informing the Panel last November that he opened an account at the Intercontinental Bank of Lebanon through the help of Haddad.

Although the account credited with US$ 250,000 has been closed since April 2004, savings in the account from December 2002 to April 2003 were made through the account of Elyas Haddad in Liberia. The Panel disclosed that credits were made in installments of US$40,000 to US$60,000 every month during the period.

The group said it understood that Elyas Haddad is a “business associate and closely related” to George Haddad. George Haddad is a prominent rice and cars importer in Liberia and owns the Haddad Group of Companies, including the Bridgeway Corporation and Prestige Motors.

Bright apparently closed the account in April 2004 following a UN Security Council Resolution 1532 that ordered the freezing of the assets of Charles Taylor, his family members and key associates that were on the travel ban list. ...

In early 2004, the Transitional Government of Liberia, while ordering a fleet of expensive vehicles through Prestige Motors, paid over half a million United States dollars to the bank account of one Elias Haddad in New York.