Salah Ezzedine (born in 1962 in South Lebanon) is a

Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...

businessman who is accused of running a

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...

. He had supposed investments in oil, publishing, metals and television, and his businesses spread out from the Gulf to Africa. He was well known as a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. Before the fraud scandal occurred, he was known for his generosity and had even built a stadium and a mosque for his hometown of Maaroub. In the ensuing debacle, financial downfall and declaring of his bankruptcy, Lebanese investors, mostly from the Shia community lost hundreds of million dollars. Amounts involved vary between $700 million to 1.2 billion dollars was lost by Lebanese investors .Robert Fisk in ''The Independent'': 'Lebanon's Madoff' bankrupted after bouncing $200,000 cheque to Hizbollah
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References

1962 births Living people Lebanese Shia Muslims Lebanese businesspeople {{Lebanon-business-bio-stub