Une association représentant les déposants a publié un communiqué en soutien à la juge Ghada Aoun qui perquisitionne actuellement les bureaux d’un agent de change, Michel Mecattaf, appelant les forces de sécurité intérieure et les experts mandatés à remettre à celle-ci toutes les informations nécessaires dans le cadre de l’enquête portant sur la manipulation du cours de la livre libanaise face au dollar. Ils estiment ainsi que les employés qui s’abstiennent à transmettre ces informations seraient suspectés d’être d’être impliqué dans le transfert illégal de devises étrangères avant octobre 2019 et début 2020.
Chaque déposant est en droit de récupérer ses moyens de subsistance et les dépôts – allusion à l’instauration d’un contrôle informel des capitaux dès novembre 2019 par l’association des banques libanaises -, note le communiqué avant d’estimer que les agents de change comme celui actuellement accusé et leurs employés commettent “des crimes bien connus, faisant par ailleurs obstruction aux experts leurs employés”.
Le même communiqué dénonce les menaces et les intimidation visant à décourager la justice libanaise à se quitter de ses devoirs et notant que le président du barreau de l’ordre des avocats est resté jusqu’à présent silencieux dans cette affaire.
An estimate of $ 2 billion in funds transferred to Switzerland alone
As a reminder, the Attorney General of the Republic, Judge Ghassan Oueidat, officially asked the Swiss authorities and their Lebanese counterparts on December 30, 2019 , information concerning the transfer of funds to the Helvetian country. At the time, it was estimated at more than 11 billion dollars the funds transferred abroad after the establishment of a moratorium on transfers abroad by the Association of Banks of Lebanon (ABL) since last October. with the closure of local financial establishments following the demonstrations of October 17, then the introduction of capital controls in November.
Since then the monetary authorities have estimated the sums illegally transferred at $ 5 billion
Still at the time, some sources mention the sum of $ 2 billion, others that of $ 11 billion which would have been transferred to accounts in Switzerland. This money would belong to Lebanese politicians and businessmen who would thus try to cope with a possible downgrade of their accounts in Lebanon or the risk of seeing certain banks go bankrupt.
And the unwillingness of politicians and bankers to transfer
In addition, the Banque du Liban had called on local financial institutions to increase their own funds to 20% of deposits and to repatriate 3% of the sums they hold with their corresponding banks by February 28, 2020 as stipulated by the circular 154.
This same circular asks bank presidents, members of the board of directors, major shareholders and senior executives, as well as clients identified as “politically vulnerable persons” and who have transferred abroad more than $ 500,000 or its equivalent in other foreign currencies since July 2017, to deposit 30% of these funds and block them for five years.
Some sources have indicated that in the face of these refusals, some banks have bought large amounts of dollars in recent weeks on the black market, purchases having unbalanced supply and demand and caused a significant de facto devaluation of the Lebanese pound against the dollar. .
A number of these financial officials finally announced their resignations so as not to be obliged to repatriate their funds.
