Raymond Rahme
Businessman; co-owner of ZR Energy
US Treasury sanctionedRaymond Rahme, together with his brother Teddy Zina Rahme, built a fuel-import business, ZR Energy, that in 2017 won a subcontract to supply fuel to Électricité du Liban (EDL), Lebanon's state electricity utility. The brothers had kept a low public profile before the US Treasury named them in a corruption designation.
ريمون رحمة رجل أعمال لبناني، فرضت عليه وزارة الخزانة الأمريكية عقوبات في نيسان 2023 على خلفية تورطه مع شقيقه في تزويد مؤسسة كهرباء لبنان بوقود غير مطابق للمواصفات ضمن عقد فرعي حصلت عليه شركتهما.
The scheme
An EDL power-plant operator raised concerns in 2020 that fuel delivered under the Rahmes' subcontract did not meet contractual specifications. A subsequent Lebanese judicial investigation found that substandard fuel had been supplied to EDL for years and had damaged power-generation equipment nationwide. Investigators said some fuel was blended to conceal its non-compliance.
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Raymond Rahme in April 2023 under Executive Order 13818 (the authority implementing the Global Magnitsky Act), stating that he had contributed to "the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon" and that the brothers had sought to disguise the compromised fuel by blending it with other product.
Current status
The sanctions designation freezes any US assets Raymond Rahme holds and generally bars US persons from doing business with him. The designation remained in effect at the February 2025 review. The linked OFAC listing is the authoritative current record.
This is a US government finding of corrupt conduct, not a criminal conviction in a court of law.
Timeline
- 2017
EDL subcontract
The Rahme brothers' company secures a subcontract to import fuel for Électricité du Liban.
- 2020
Concerns raised
A power-plant operator flags that delivered fuel does not meet specifications.
- Apr 2023
US sanctions
OFAC designates Raymond Rahme for corruption under Executive Order 13818.