- AMMAN: The Jordanian Court of Cassation on Thursday upheld a ruling by the State Security Court (SSC) to jail former Finance Minister Adel Qudah and three other high profile officials for three years with hard labour after finding them guilty of bribery, judicial sources said.
In July, the SSC sentenced Qudah in his capacity as former Board Chairman of the Jordan Petroleum Refining Co. (JPRC), the firm’s CEO Ahmad Rifai, economic adviser to the prime minister Mohammad Rawashdeh and business tycoon Khalid Shaheen for three years, but left them free until the verdict is examined by the appellate jurisdiction.
The four men were condemned in connection with a 1.2 billion dollar contract which was won by Shaheen for the fourth expansion of Jordan ’s sole refinery.
Other bidders withdrew from the competition in ambiguous circumstances during the global downturn at the end of 2008.
The four men were detained early in March and referred to the SSC in a case that dominated the attention of the public opinion in a country that rarely witnessed the trial of people of such high calibre.
