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French prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations of money laundering against the head of Lebanese central bank Riad Salameh, who is also accused of associating with an organized criminal group.
The French prosecutor’s office opened its first investigation into money laundering charges against the Lebanese central bank governor on Monday.
The move came as Switzerland was laundering money from the Lebanese central bank and examining possible embezzlement, which is currently at the heart of Lebanon’s deep financial crisis.
The French prosecution reported that an investigation into Riad Salameh was opened in late May on charges of money laundering and association with an organized criminal group.
Salameh, 70, has run Lebanon’s central bank since 1993 and for many years was seen as a symbol of currency stability in the country.
In a note issued by the bank’s governor to the Reuters news agency on Sunday, French lawyer Salameh Pierre-Olivier Sur dismissed the allegations as a politically motivated “communication operation”.
In 2019, Lebanon plunged into the worst economic and financial crisis in living memory. Since then, the country’s currency, the Lebanese pound, has lost about 90% of its value on the black market, reducing Lebanon’s ordinary purchasing power.
More than 40% of Lebanese households report the challenge of paying for food and other basic necessities.
Salameh said last Thursday that the central bank, Banque du Liban, had not failed and that people’s deposits would be safe and would return soon. reversing the decision they caused street protests to stop the withdrawal from dollar deposit accounts.
Protesters against the Lebanese government say Salameh – a former investment banker with Merrill Lynch – is a “thief.”
Demonstrations have been held outside his Beirut office as the economic crisis has worsened. According to the World Bank, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose from about $ 55 billion in 2019 to about $ 33 billion, with about 40 percent of the population’s GDP falling.
In January, Switzerland’s chief prosecutor said he had asked Lebanon to cooperate in the central bank’s probe.
Lebanese media have reported in recent months that Salameh, his brother and other aides have been involved in illegal business. The allegations include remittances from abroad, despite the controls imposed on them at home.
Salameh has refused to make such transfers.
The French anti-corruption group Sherpa filed a lawsuit against Salameh in April, citing investments in goods worth millions of euros.
Salameh responded last month that he had proved his wealth before he took office as a banker almost 30 years ago.
Lebanon opened its investigation in April after a lawsuit was filed by Switzerland that more than $ 300 million had been taken from the central bank through a company owned by its brother Salameh.
Lebanon’s financial and political elites are under great pressure for allegations that they are interfering with mismanagement, corruption and efforts to unblock international aid.
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