IACC requests nepotism charge for former minister, indicts MP

AMMAN — The Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission’s (IACC) prosecution on Sunday requested authorisation to pursue a former health minister on charges of
nepotism and favouritism. 

An IACC source stated that the prosecution took an “unprecedented step” in issuing charges of accepting wasta (using personal connections to obtain favours for friends and relatives), stopping short of naming the former official in question, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The former minister is charged for allegedly making an exception for a Health Ministry doctor to whom he is related, permitting him to retake his third-year annual medical residency examination.

The prosecution also charged two doctors with failing to uphold their professional responsibilities for aiding the cheating efforts of doctors sitting for their ophthalmology residency examination.

The charges serve to affirm the keenness of the Kingdom’s judicial authorities and the efforts of the IACC in prosecuting those involved with nepotism and favouritism in order to mitigate the unjust consequences of these crimes, according to Petra.

Meanwhile, the IACC’s prosecutor general issued an indictment list for the felony of forging revenue stamps, involving an MP, his brother and a number of partners, some of whom have been detained for questioning at the Juweideh Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre for over a month. 

The prosecution imposed a travel ban on the MP, his wife and their partners, in addition to the seizure of their movable and immovable assets, Petra reported. 

The company owned by the MP in question, who was also not named by the official, was reportedly working with another company as providers of administrative services to medical institutions on a contract basis, under which they would handle the delivery of financial claims from these institutions to medical insurance providers and the Health Ministry’s Kidney Patients Fund, the statement said.

The companies in question would allegedly use the counterfeit stamps to pass off unverified documents in accordance with the amount stated on each invoice and then present these invoices to the relevant departments demanding payment.