A Belgian deputy, Malik Ben Achour , formally accused the governor of the Banque du Liban of holding an important heritage in Belgium, including real estate estimated at 14 million euros, estimating that it is also for this state to investigate the origin of this fortune.
He also accused the Lebanese justice system and the Attorney General of the Republic, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, of protecting corrupt people. The Belgian parliamentarian therefore wants an investigation to be carried out by Brussels in order to shed light on these assets while Lebanon is going through a major financial crisis characterized by the insolvency of private banks and the Banque du Liban, which has largely started its monetary reserves today and unable to grant the lines of credit necessary for the importation of medicines or even fuels, two products which today suffer from a major shortage on the local market.
These remarks come as several countries including France, a country of which Riad Salamé also holds nationality, but also Switzerland and Great Britain have opened judicial inquiries for money laundering and embezzlement of public money against him.
In Lebanon, for the time being, apart from Judge Ghada Aoun who is investigating a possible manipulation in 2020 of the price of the Lebanese pound, no judicial investigation has yet been formally opened against Riad Salamé, the public prosecutor being content to question him on the origin of his assets at the request of his Swiss counterparts.
