Conflict Incident Report

On Aug. 22, the ISF detained an Ethiopian woman identified as A.M., born in 1992. A.M. had been residing in Lebanon under the “kafala” system, which enables employers to sponsor migrant domestic workers, and had fled the home of her employer, a woman identified as A.Aa, who lived in the Chouf town of Ain Baal. A.Aa reported to authorities that A.M. had stolen clothing from her home when she had fled, leading to A.M.'s arrest.

A.M. was found with two suitcases containing women’s clothing, a mobile phone and an expired residency, according to the statement. She was also found with $10,000, which she admitted to having stolen from the home, presumably thinking it was real but which in fact turned out to be counterfeit.

An investigation followed, during which A.Aa. denied having any knowledge of the counterfeit money.

A.Aa.’s brother, identified as N.Aa., who lives with A.Aa., was also questioned. Though N.Aa. initially denied having any knowledge of the counterfeit money, he eventually admitted that he had been employed by a suspect identified as Y.Aa. to sell counterfeit money in the area of Choueifat, claiming that he had been offered $200 for every $1,000 in counterfeit money he sold. He said that he had hesitated to sell it, however, and had left the counterfeit bills in his closet.

N.Aa. also admitted to using hash, the ISF statement said.