The Libyan Audit Bureau said on Monday that the top anti-corruption official Reda Gergab has been abducted by a militia tied to the Interior Ministry in the capital.

The Audit Bureau also accused the interior ministry of “forcibly disappearing” Gergab to prevent him from uncovering financial irregularities and blocking the ministry’s large and suspicious transactions.

“It is regrettable that the body entrusted by the community to implement the law is violating it,” the audit bureau added.

In light of the abduction of Reda Gergab, the audit bureau’s administrative director, The Ministry of Interior issued a statement acknowleding Gergab’s detention and sought to justify it, arguing that the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 required the dispensation of urgent funds “to rescue the Libyan people” and that the government is merely “carrying out responsibilities” undermined by the anti-corruption agency.

“We have noticed that the audit bureau is not performing its role according to the law,” the ministry said, referring to the body’s review of government operations amid accusations of financial wrongdoing. “The government will never submit to political blackmail and arm-twisting.”