Jordan minister cleared in ‘Casinogate’

Jordan’s former Tourism Minister Osama Dabbas has been cleared of charges surrounding a Dead Sea casino corruption scandal along with three former employees in a court case in Amman. The case, dubbed “Casinogate” in Jordan, concerned a 2007 contract with a London-based Palestinian investor to build a multi-million dollar casino on the shore of the Dead Sea. Terms of the contract were later renegotiated under Prime Minister Nader Dahabi’s supervision, ultimately costing the country’s Treasury around $1.4bn in funds. Dabbas was charged with abuse of office, fraud and forgery but was cleared in Amman on Sunday. A parliamentary investigation committee in 2011, then headed by MP Khalil Attiyah, originally picked up the case, which has stoked fierce controversy in Jordanian political circles over the past five years. “Casinogate” became the biggest corruption scandal in Jordan in recent years.