Lebanon: Riad Salamé under new lawsuits for embezzlement

Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salamé in Beirut on December 20, 2021. © JOSEPH EID/AFP

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1 min

A public prosecutor in Beirut on Thursday, February 23, initiated proceedings against the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salamé, his brother Raja and his assistant Marianne Hoyek for money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

The head of the central bank has once again proclaimed his innocence

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With our correspondent in Beirut,

Paul Khalifeh

Riad Salamé is accused of having embezzled between 2002 and 2015 some 330 million dollars in the form of commissions on the sale of financial securities of the Lebanese Central Bank via a brokerage

Forry

Associates, which belongs to his brother.

Raja Salamé had been arrested in March 2022 for several weeks in connection with the same case before being released on bail.

Dismissal of charges

In a statement to the press on Thursday, the head of the Banque du Liban rejected the charges against him and stressed that he was innocent until justice proves the contrary.

Riad Salamé, his two alleged accomplices and others are being prosecuted for money laundering crimes in five European countries, including France and Germany.

European magistrates, who have been investigating these financial embezzlements for months, traveled to Lebanon in January to interview witnesses.

Ultimately beneficial?

The proceedings against Riad Salamé could be beneficial to him, because they would prevent his summons by the European judges who wish to question him.

With his new legal troubles,

Riad Salamé has little chance of being reappointed as head of the Central Bank at the end of his term in June 2023, as Lebanese political circles have suggested. 

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