Methodology & Sources
Who gets a profile
A person is included on this site only if they were named, in their own right, in at least one of the following: a government sanctions designation (for example, a US Treasury OFAC listing), a formal criminal charge or indictment filed by a prosecutor, or a court or official judicial-investigation filing.
Being related to, married to, employed by, or otherwise associated with someone who meets that bar is not, by itself, enough to be included here. Where a source material happens to name a family member or associate only in passing, this site does not create a separate profile for that person.
How we describe status
Sanctioned means a government body, most often the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), made an administrative finding under its own legal authority. In most cases here, that authority is the Global Magnitsky corruption program. It is not a criminal conviction.
Charged or indicted means a prosecutor or investigating judge filed formal charges. Charges are accusations that must still be tested in court; they are not findings of guilt.
Under investigation means a formal inquiry was open on the review date shown on the page, but no charges had been filed against that person.
The site uses the word "convicted" only when a published criminal conviction is available. None of the current profiles met that standard on their review dates.
Sourcing standard
Every factual claim on a profile page is drawn from a named, linked source: wire services (Reuters, AP, AFP), established outlets (The National, L'Orient Today, Al Jazeera), investigative newsrooms (OCCRP and its Lebanese partner Daraj), human-rights organizations (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International), specialist policy research (TIMEP), or a government body's own publication (US Department of the Treasury press releases and OFAC's sanctions list). The full source list for each person appears at the bottom of their profile.
We have deliberately not included every name that appears somewhere in Lebanese corruption reporting. Names that are documented only through a single opinion piece, an anonymous claim, or a source we could not independently verify are left out rather than included with weak sourcing.
Corrections & status changes
Sanctions can be lifted, charges can be dropped, and investigations can close without action. This has already happened for at least one profile on this site. Each profile carries a "last updated" date and will be revised if the underlying legal status changes. If you believe a claim is inaccurate or out of date, check the linked primary sources directly.