On Friday, the Governor of the Lebanese Central Bank, Riad Salameh, denied transferring any money from the Banque du Liban to his personal accounts inside or outside the country, at the end of two hearings with him in the presence of European investigators, and criticized what he described as “bad faith and a thirst for prosecution” on him from several sides.
On Friday, European investigators finished the second day of hearing Salameh under the supervision of the Lebanese judiciary, as part of European investigations into money laundering and embezzlement cases in Lebanon linked to it, according to a judicial source told AFP.
The wealth of Salama (72 years), one of the longest-serving central bank rulers in the world, has been the focus of investigations for two years in Lebanon and abroad, as he is pursued by several suspicions, including embezzlement, money laundering, and transferring them to accounts abroad.
Salama said in a statement at the end of a hearing that lasted more than 3 hours that he attended the session as a “listener, not as a suspect or as an accused.”
And he stressed that “his personal account at the Banque du Liban is not linked to the accounts in which funds belonging to the bank are deposited,” adding: “No money was transferred to my account from the Banque du Liban.”
He emphasized that “my transfers abroad, whatever their amount, come from my personal account.”
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• The European investigations focus on the relationship between the Banque du Liban and the “Fore Associates” company, which is registered in the Virgin Islands and has an office in Beirut, and the economic beneficiary is the brother of the ruler, Raja Salameh.
• It is believed that the company played the role of intermediary for the purchase of treasury bonds “Eurobond” from the Banque du Liban by receiving a subscription commission, which was transferred to Salameh’s accounts abroad.
• Salameh denounced what he described as “bad faith and a thirst for prosecution” once morest him more than two years ago, by submitting reports once morest him in Lebanon and abroad.
• Salameh continually denies the accusations once morest him, considering that his prosecution comes in the context of a political and media operation to “tarnish” his image.
• Confirms that he accumulated his wealth from his previous work for two decades in the “Merrill Lynch” global financial institution, and from investments in several fields.
• In January, European investigators heard witnesses in Beirut, including bank managers and current and former employees of the Banque du Liban.
• A year ago, the European Judicial Cooperation Unit “Eurojust” announced that France, Germany and Luxembourg had frozen 120 million euros of Lebanese assets following an investigation targeting Salameh and 4 of his close associates, including his brother, on charges of money laundering and “embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon worth more than 330 million.” dollars and 5 million euros, respectively, between 2002 and 2021.
