Funds deposited by Lebanese nationals more than doubled in 2020 in Switzerland, says the Swiss National Bank. They go from 2.7 billion Swiss francs to 6.46 billion Swiss francs, the highest since the start of these reports in 1996.

This information comes against the backdrop of rumors in Lebanon concerning significant transfers of funds held by politicians or important local personalities to Switzerland following the events of October 2019.

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.

An investigation opened since in Switzerland for money laundering

Since then, the governor of the Banque du Liban would have seen his assets frozen in Switzerland following the discovery of documents detailing the movements of funds between Lebanon and Switzerland which would have been 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, thus highlighting an embezzlement of funds from the Banque du Liban for the benefit of the latter.

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”. The governor of the BdL himself 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, confirming according to investigators their suspicions of embezzlement.

10 million dollars would have even been paid into personal accounts belonging to Riad Salamé for a fictitious company, “Westlake Commercial Inc”, whose accounts are also hosted by the Swiss bank Julius Baer

The governor of the Banque du Liban would have 50 million dollars in Switzerland as well as many real estate.

Swiss_File-2

Another problem, the company in question would be unknown in Lebanon and would not have acted within the framework of the contract, indicate certain legal sources.

Un commentaire?