The quiet Southern Lebanese village of Maaroub has recently found itself at the center of attention following the recent arrest and indictment of its deputy-mayor and a prominent businessman hailing from the Shiite town. Forty-nine-year-old business-mogul Salah Ezzedine, known by many for his piety and closeness to Hezbollah, is bankrupt and stands accused along with his alleged partner, Maaroub Deputy-Mayor Youssef Faour, of running a giant Ponzi scheme similar to that of American financier Bernard Madoff, who earlier this year was sentenced to 150 years in jail. As a result, the Lebanese press has dubbed Ezzedine “Lebanon’s Madoff.” A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that promises investors high rates of return over a short period of time. The investments are then used to pay the return instead of actually being invested. Exactly how much money invested with Ezzedine has gone missing remains a mystery. Some media reports estimate
