New elements against the governor of the Banque du Liban were published by the Swiss daily, Le Temps. These documents detail movements of funds between Lebanon and Switzerland allegedly operated by Riad Salamé and his brother. The men have been accused of money laundering since 2002.
The Swiss authorities thus note that 300 million dollars would have been transferred on the basis of a contract dated April 6, 2002 between the Bank of Lebanon (BDL) and the company Forry Associates Ltd, registered in Tortola in the Virgin Islands and having a office in Beirut, whose economic beneficiary would be Raja Salamé.
This contract, which would be signed by Riad Salamé and his brother, would empower Forry Associates to sell treasury bonds as well as BDL Eurobonds by receiving a placement commission. According to Swiss prosecutors, between April 2002 and October 2014, it would have allowed the arrival of more than $ 326 million in the account of Forry Associates at HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) in Geneva, an account of which the beneficial owner would also be Raja Salamé.
Le Temps, Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Commissions in the amount of 247 million dollars would have been paid on April 6, 2002 in return on the personal account of Raja Salamé. 207 million were then paid to beneficiaries of accounts in the banks Bankmed, Banque Misr Liban, Crédit Libanais, Banque Audi and Banque Saradar as “personal expenses”.
Likewise, the BdL governor is said to have received more than $ 7 million from Forry Associates’ HSBC account. On April 5, 2012, Riad Salamé allegedly asked the Zurich bank to transfer Lebanese treasury bonds in the amount of 153 million dollars to the Swiss Audi Bank in Beirut with a personal signature, leading the Swiss authorities to monitor the movements of these accounts. .
In addition, the governor of the Banque du Liban would have 50 million dollars in Switzerland. These assets are currently frozen.
the governor of the Banque du Liban is said to have opened an account at UBS in April 2012. In four years, 7.5 million dollars would have been transferred there from the personal account of Riad Salamé at the Bank of Lebanon. All of these sums would have been invested in bonds.
In June 2016, it was with Credit Suisse the same time that Riad Salamé opened an account, and credited it with $ 4.15 million from his Bank of Lebanon account. Finally, in 2018, the same modus operandi was repeated with Banque Pictet in Geneva. When this account was opened in 2018, 2 million euros would have been paid into it. In the same day, they would have was followed by a payment of $ 3 million, still from Lebanon.
Le Temps, Tuesday, April 13, 2021
In addition, he also allegedly acquired several real estate assets via a public limited company.
