His critics say he is one of the main culprits of the unprecedented crisis in his country. Lebanese justice seized Wednesday (May 24th) the passports of the powerful governor of the Central Bank Riad Salamé, targeted by an arrest warrant issued by the French justice, and prohibited him from leaving the territory, told AFP a judicial source.
The governor of the BDL, closely linked to the political class, is suspected of having built up a rich real estate and banking heritage in Europe through a complex financial arrangement and a massive embezzlement of Lebanese public funds.
Summoned to Paris for an indictment on 16 May, he did not appear for questioning and has since been the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a judge in charge of investigations in France.
Lebanon received last week the Interpol Red Notice, based on the arrest warrant, but it does not extradite its nationals.
Riad Salamé appeared Wednesday before the Advocate General at the Court of Cassation, Imad Kabalan, who informed him of the charges against him on the basis of the notice, including "embezzlement" and "money laundering".
The magistrate forbade him to leave Lebanese territory and decided to seize his two passports, Lebanese and French, according to the same source.
A maneuver to escape French justice?
Judge Kabalan's decisions could be a maneuver to evade the decisions of the French judiciary, lawyer Karim Daher, who is committed to the fight against corruption, told AFP.
"When he is forbidden to travel, he is forbidden to appear before foreign justice," he said. "He is therefore the hostage of the corrupt Lebanese power, which has no interest in the secrets of which he is the guardian being revealed," the lawyer said.
During the interrogation, Riad Salamé, 72, "denied all the accusations against him", repeating that he had amassed his fortune when he worked in the American investment bank Merrill Lynch before taking the head of the BDL in 1993. He also asked to "be tried in Lebanon".
Judge Kabalan asked the French judiciary to hand over the case file to him. If he concludes that the accusations of money laundering and illicit enrichment are founded, Riad Salamé will be tried in his country, said the judicial source.
"The Lebanese judiciary has shown that it is not independent, and that it is subservient to politicians, with the exception of a handful of judges," Daher said.
Also in Germany's sights
According to another judicial source, the Lebanese prosecutor general was informed on Wednesday by a delegation from the German embassy that the Munich prosecutor general had also issued an arrest warrant against Riad Salamé and that Interpol would be notified.
Since the French judge issued an arrest warrant for Riad Salamé, key Lebanese officials have kept an embarrassed silence on the case.
Some ministers and opposition lawmakers have called for the governor, whose term expires in July, to be removed from office.
Riad Salamé enjoys good relations with a large part of the political class, which defends its monetary policy in a country that has been experiencing a serious economic crisis since autumn 2019.
" READ ALSO Riad Salamé, the great moneymaker of Lebanon targeted by the French justice
In March 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg froze €120 million of Lebanese assets suspected of belonging to Riad Salamé. And since the beginning of the year, European judges have visited Lebanon three times to question him and his relatives.
The Paris Court of Appeal is due to rule on July 4 on the validity of seizures on the real estate and banking assets in Europe of Riad Salamé, according to sources close to the case.
Another Lebanese personality to have been targeted by an international arrest warrant, Carlos Ghosn, the former boss of the Renault-Nissan automotive alliance, lives in Beirut without being worried since his incredible flight from Japan at the end of 2019.
With AFP
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