Against a backdrop of corruption charges by members, the executive council of the Jordan Medical Association has (JMA) decided to sue its predecessors for allegedly losing JD three millions in JMA pension funds through stock market deals.
“Four years ago, the association formed a special committee to report on the reasons for the loss of over JD three millions in association pension funds, and the results appeared during this week's ordinary council session,” JMA head Tareq Tahboub said on Thursday.
The decision to file the suit, which is expected to begin in the next few weeks, will affect executive council members who served between 1989 and 1994.
The outcome of the investigation, which was revealed late Wednesday, showed that the losses were due to bad decisions about investing in the stock market, according to the JMA official.
But an association source said the losses had been caused not by bad deals, but rather by “corruption” within JMA leadership ranks between 1989 and 1994.
“Some members have made fortunes from the association's pension fund...They have even built hospitals from this operation,” the source, who declined to be named, told the Jordan Times.
The source expressed fear that the current leadership would “bury the case” without reaching a concrete result, so that “the corrupt individuals would not be punished.”
But Tahboub denied that anyone had intentionally abused JMA funds.
He told the Jordan Times that “there has been no mismanagement, and the corruption allegations are baseless.”
“The association will launch further investigations into the issue to find out who was responsible for these losses,” said Tahboub.
The report, presented by the executive council member and JMA pension funds manager, Samir Samawi, also recommended that the association claim financial compensation from the members who were allegedly behind the losses.
Samawi, who prepared the report, could not be reached for comment.
The decision to file a lawsuit of this nature is the first of its kind in the history of the Kingdom's powerful professional associations. – (Jordan Times)
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
