Making a Short Story Long...

Lebanese Christians migrating from the Middle East have a long history in North America and doubtless in Europe as well, as entertainers, entrepreneurs, just plain good business people, whether on a large scale or as evidenced by their ownership of small food outlets. They are held to be honourable people, trustworthy and hard-working. They are not inclined, like their Muslim counterparts, to sequester themselves away from the society in which they live, although like all other people of ethnic-cultural backgrounds likely feel most at home with others of the same background.

The story of Roland Eid of Ottawa was like that of many immigrants; given the opportunity to learn and to aspire and to work hard at their craft, they succeed beyond even their own expectations. Roland Eid came to Canada as a teen, sponsored by an older sibling. Unlike his siblings who completed higher education, he went directly into the workforce after high school. As a construction labourer he learned the trade and eventually went ventured on his own as a general contractor, and succeeded over time in building a good reputation and a good business.

Government building and renovation contracts came his way, he had a lot of employees and he did very well. He had been a child during Lebanon's civil war. His family lived in south Lebanon, among Muslims, as Maronite Christians. His father worked throughout the Middle East drilling water wells. When Israel invaded Lebanon in response to the PLO's constant raids into Israel, Maronite Christians aligned themselves with the Israelis, and when Israel finally left Lebanon, those same Lebanese Maronites faced the revenge of the Muslim majority.

Unsurprising, since in 1982, members of the Maronite Phalange Party entered two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila, and began a systematic massacre of Palestinian civilians in revenge for the assassination of their leader two days earlier. Israeli commanders fearing that members of the PLO  would to attack the Israel Defence Forces, had asked the Lebanese Forces to enter the camps. The ensuing massacre was a dreadful affair, the Phalange reasoning that if enough terror was instilled in the Palestinians they would leave Lebanon.

Roland Eid, who is now charged with criminal fraud, for having looted the finances of his company ICI Construction, in 2008, described for his trial how in the late 1990s he had taken it upon himself to offer his services as an informer to CSIS. He travelled often back to Lebanon to visit with his parents who still lived in Beirut. He claims to have become the 'eyes and ears' of CSIS in Lebanon in 2006, and for that purpose, developed ties with Hezbollah officials, gaining their trust.

The RCMP, having investigated his business dealings for fraud in draining ICI Construction of its fluid assets, spoke of a scheme Mr. Eid had developed where he informed employees of his company that if a $2-million bank balance could be established in Lebanon, it would be matched as a business enterprise by Syrian government interests. "Eid would then transfer the $2-million back to ICI's Canadian account", according to the RCMP synopsis.

Mr. Eid contends he had been approached by an international intelligence agency -- hinting it was either Israel's Mossad or the American Central Intelligence Agency -- to mount a mission to extract high-value information involving Hezbollah officials. Unfortunately for him, those same Hezbollah contacts somehow discovered Mr. Eid's usefulness to foreign intelligence as a spy. Back in Ottawa he received a call from Hezbollah subtly informing him that his presence in Lebanon was sadly missed by his parents. A call that he took to imply they were in danger.

He made arrangements to leave Canada and settle back in Lebanon to be near his parents. And he made arrangements to sell his company to one of his chief employees. An employee, Sebastien Dagenais, who failed to arrange financing for the $3-million price put on ICI Construction; instead the two decided to transfer funds directly out of ICI's bank account to pay Mr. Eid, leaving the company without critical cash reserves to cover salaries and creditors; leaving it insolvent, causing it to go bankrupt.

In the process people who operated businesses dependent on receiving from ICI Construction money they were owed for materials and services rendered, suffered hardships; some went out of business, as a result of their losses. Records indicated that ICI transferred $1.7-million to Roland Eid's personal account in Saida, Lebanon. It hasn't yet been settled who owned the company when these transactions took place. No evidence exists of a final sale agreement of the company to Mr. Dagenais.

Which can logically be construed as Mr. Eid having looted the company's assets, leaving it to go belly up, jobs uncompleted, contractors left in the dark, employees unpaid and puzzled, and a finance company supplying ICI with funding at a discount to the value of the company's future receivables finding itself bankrupt and out of business as well. Tradesmen and companies supplying materials on projects that ICI was commissioned to complete were left in disarray, and without monetary compensation.

And it is all the fault of Hezbollah. For Mr. Eid has testified that he was interrogated by Hezbollah officials who wanted to force him to divulge everything he knew, all his connections, the work he performed for foreign intelligence agencies. When he was released from the interrogation sessions, which he explained involved "psychological, not physical torture", he was given two days to depart from Lebanon. Which explains his return to Canada. But not what became of the millions he transferred to his Lebanese bank account.

His seeming disinterest in making good to the dozens of suppliers whom the bankruptcy of ICI had done irreparable harm to was noted by them. This is something they take great umbrage at, particularly in light of the fact that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the production of a film in honour of the Lebanese saint Charbel. "Roland talks about suing the government when this is all over and then repaying us", commented one of his ruined creditors.