It began in 1977 when Prince Hassan bin Talal, the Crown Prince of Jordan approached Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi economist while the latter was teaching at the American University of Beirut to launch a new Jordanian bank, and wanted Chalabi to help him form and run the venture.
The Crown Prince's support also enabled Petra to open a string of branches for the first time in the West Bank.
The audit investigation subsequently uncovered further evidence of massive fraud committed by the bank.
[1] The Jordanian attorney-general charged that Ahmed Chalabi was directly responsible for the collapse of Petra Bank.
Chalabi was convicted and sentenced in absentia for bank fraud by a Jordanian military tribunal to 22 years in prison on 31 charges of embezzlement, theft, misuse of depositor funds and currency speculation.