by BP after its purchase of Amoco, with which Tamraz had been cooperating in the Central Asian area. During this period, Tamraz acquired equity ownership positions in Turkmenistan’s Blocks I and II two of that country’s major oil and gas producing properties. These fields have reserves of of gas and of oil, with 1,400 working wells, and currently produce two billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Roger Tamraz’s Netoil group of companies has been in discussions with Libya to buy back Tamoil Congressional hearings and pipeline lobbying Tamraz was involved in United States congressional hearings on campaign finance in 1997-1998 after giving $300,000 to the Bill Clinton campaign, which he admitted was to gain greater access. Tamraz was said to have pitched the White House on a pipeline proposal. The pipeline would have run through Armenia and Turkey in Central Asia, and the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, but ran into resistance from Heydar Aliyev. Fraud and embezzlement allegations In 1997, Tamraz was detained by the Republic of Georgia on a warrant from INTERPOL for embezzlement of $200 million. The charges originated from the Lebanese government and were pertaining to the collapse of the Al Mashreq Bank in 1989. Tamraz was not extradited or detained by the US, despite the warrant, but was briefly considered an international fugitive, though he stated he was "allowed to travel freely throughout the world." Tamraz was also charged with "bank fraud, conflict of interest and abuse of trust" in France in 1997. Tamraz denied the charges, calling them fabricated, and stated that they stemmed from politics in Lebanon. Tamraz has asserted that an auditor, "the Lebanese court-appointed investigator," and "C.I.A. agents" had declared him innocent. References External links NETOIL Inc. Group of Companies Official Website Tamoil Corporation Official Website STRATEVIC appointing Roger Tamraz to board of directors STRATEVIC Official Website Alumni of the University of Cambridge American businesspeople American people of Lebanese descent The American University in Cairo alumni Harvard Business School alumni 1940 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American people of Assyrian descent Egyptian expatriates in the United Kingdom Egyptian emigrants to the United States Egyptian expatriates in France