Two complaints for alleged acts of money laundering and fraud were lodged by associations against the governor of the Banque du Liban, indicates the daily Le Monde in its electronic edition.
One of the complaints was allegedly filed on behalf of the Swiss foundation Accountability Now by lawyer Antoine Mausonneuve against Riad Salamé and the second on April 30 by lawyers William Bourdon and Amélie Lefebre on behalf of the Sherpa Association , specializing in the fight against economic crime around the world and a Franco-Lebanese collective.
According to the content of the article, would also be accused the own son of Riad Salamé, Nadi, aged 34, and his collaborator Marianne Hoayek whose heritage is of dubious origin.
The patrimony of the governor of the Banque du Liban – also holder of French nationality – in place since 1993, would reach several hundred million euros and would have increased disproportionately since his accession to the head of the Lebanese Central Bank.
The governor of the BdL is also targeted by a Swiss investigation. The Swiss authorities accuse him of having embezzled 300 million dollars from the accounts of the Banque du Liban for the benefit of his brother Raja Salamé. A parallel investigation was opened in Lebanon even at the request of the public prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, yet close, like him, to the prime minister designate Saad Hariri who has long underlined the immunity he enjoys at the head of the Bank. from Lebanon.
Moreover Riad Salamé has, on several occasions, refused to go – officially for security reasons – to Judge Ghada Aoun as part of the investigation into the manipulation of the dollar rate against the Lebanese pound. The role of the governor of the BdL had been questioned by the president of the union of official stockbrokers himself in May 2020.
This information comes at a time when Lebanon is going through a serious economic crisis induced in part by an over-valuation of the Lebanese pound for years which led to a drying up of monetary reserves, an increase in public debt both artificially compensated by the use private deposits. From now on, more than 65% of the Lebanese population will live under the poverty line while the national currency has seen its parity against the dollar be sharply degraded.
In addition, the Banque du Liban is also accused of having financed for years programs for the benefit of certain politicians, such as in the real estate or fuel sector for the benefit of private agents, while the financing program purchase of basic necessities should end at the end of June due to lack of sufficient available monetary reserves.
Also, even if the governor holds French nationality and could thus escape the ban on entering France, Paris would have imposed sanctions targeting local politicians accused of obstructing the formation of a new government or of corruption. Such an investigation could lead to his arrest in France in the event of entry into the territory.
