Documents reveal that the Central Bank of Lebanon imposed commissions on Lebanese commercial banks following they purchased government bonds, without clarifying that the bulk of those commissions went to a company controlled by the brother of the governor of the bank, Riad Salameh.
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Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh.
Archyde.com indicated, according to documents seen by it, that the Central Bank of Lebanon imposed commissions on commercial banks in Lebanon following they purchased government bonds for more than a decade, without clarifying that the bulk of those commissions went to a company controlled by the brother of the bank’s governor. Central Riad Salameh.
And she explained in a report, that “four contracts between the Banque du Liban and a Lebanese commercial bank, dated from 2004 to 2014, stipulate that the bank that concluded the contract agreed to pay 3/8 commission at the rate of 1% on purchases of government certificates of deposit, worth millions of dollars.”
Two senior executives in the finance sector told Archyde.com that “such contracts were typical for commercial banks making such purchases at the time.”
The agency indicated that “these contracts, which it has seen, do not refer to the “Fore Associates” company, which is controlled by the ruler’s brother, Raja Salama.”
In this context, Riad Salameh confirmed to Archyde.com, “Fore Associates’ sole mission was to collect all these commissions and fees, and redistribute them according to the instructions,” without specifying what these instructions are.
He stressed that “the process of distributing commissions was transparent, and was approved by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, and no one filed any complaint at that time.”
The agency stated that, “An investigation is underway in Lebanon and Europe, regarding the issue of commissions and where they went. This information comes following the Swiss authorities suspected that the Salameh brothers may have illegally seized more than 300 million dollars in this way from the Banque du Liban, between the years 2002 and 2015. They laundered some money in Switzerland, according to a letter the Swiss attorney general sent to Lebanese officials last year.
The Swiss attorney general’s office told Archyde.com that it was conducting a criminal investigation into suspected “aggravated money laundering operations, related to alleged crimes of embezzlement on the account of the Banque du Liban”, but declined to comment further on this story.
Salameh had confirmed, to the agency, that “commissions such as those contained in the contracts reviewed by “Archyde.com”, were paid to the “Fore Associates” company.
But he denied the embezzlement, saying that “the commission money does not belong to the Central Bank, which is a state-owned institution.” He revealed that “commissions were paid in what he called a “clearing account” in the central bank, and then paid to “Fore Associates”, noting that he “appointed the auditing company BDO Semaan, Gholam & CO” to look into the matter.
And he explained last November that “the auditor’s report concluded that “no funds belonging to the Banque du Liban have been entered into this account.”
It is reported that the sources of the Prosecution Committee once morest the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, reported a few days ago that A security patrol raided two homes of Riad Salameh And the headquarters of the Central Bank in search of it and did not find it.
like that, Judicial authorities opened in LuxembourgEarlier, a criminal case related to Salama’s fortune. The French judiciary also conducted an investigation into Salameh’s accounts in June 2021, once morest the background of allegations related to his accusation of money laundering.
