A Lebanese millionaire is tried in Valencia for offering money to people in need to donate part of his liver

Together with Hatem Akouche, a Lebanese politician and millionaire, his son, two nephews and another compatriot are accused They contacted eight candidates, who came to carry out medical tests, and offered them money and work Finally the donation was not carried out because the son of Akouche was compatible with him The Valencia Court has been judging five men since Monday for allegedly offering money or work to people in need so that one of them would donate part of his liver to one of the defendants, who was sick and needed a transplant. The recipient of the organ was Hatem Akouche, a Lebanese millionaire and politician, he was mayor of the city of Al Kharayeb. The events date back to April 2013, when Akouche contacted two of his nephews who lived in Spain and ran a company in Novelda ( Alicante) to find a living liver donor, “knowing the prestige of this surgery in our country”, according to the Prosecutor’s Office in its indictment. Both the nephews and the son of the patient and another Lebanese compatriot then began the steps for “the materialization of said transplant, with obvious violation of Spanish legislation regarding the donation of living organs,” adds the public accusation. The now judged, contacted eight candidates, people who were “especially vulnerable both because of their origin and because of their economic hardship.” Several of them were even paid for tests in different medical clinics in Spain to find out their compatibility as donors with the patient. And in many cases, always according to the version of the Prosecutor’s Office, they were offered money or work, among other benefits, in exchange for the donation. The purchase of the liver was not carried out After the medical tests, the donation was not finally completed because the candidates did not want to take the risk or were not admitted by the doctors, among other reasons. A hospital in Barcelona carried out a new test on Akouche’s son and found that he could be a donor for his father, so the transplant between the two was finally carried out in August 2013. However, the alleged crime of organ trafficking has already had been committed. Hatem did not suspect it and returned to Spain for a review. He was detained in the VIP room of the Valencia airport on January 30, 2014. Some facts for which the five accused have already been tried, but the sentence was annulled by the Supreme Court. In this new trial, the Public Ministry provisionally requests three years in prison for the Lebanese millionaire and seven years for the other four defendants for a crime of promoting, favoring or facilitating the illegal transplantation of human organs of others.