near Switzerland, French justice is in turn interested in the heritage in Europe of the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salamé, now a figure hated by his people, as the country sinks into the worst economic crisis of his history.
A few weeks after having received two complaints against Riad Salamé and his entourage, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened a preliminary investigation for “criminal association” and “organized money laundering”, learned on Sunday June 6. ‘Agence France-Presse from a source close to the case, confirmed by a judicial source. The investigations should in particular shed light on the origin of the rich heritage of Riad Salamé, now 70 years old.
Arrived at the head of the Lebanese Central Bank in 1993, after having worked for twenty years as an investment banker at Merill Lynch in Beirut and in Paris, this influential figure has long been hailed by the Lebanese political class and the economic world. But as Lebanon faces an unprecedented economic crisis, one of the world’s worst financial crises since the mid-19th centurye century, according to the World Bank, this close friend of the Hariri family clan is today one of the most reviled figures in the street.
Two complaints filed in April in France
Public opinion suspects him of having, like other senior officials in the country, quietly transferred large sums abroad during the October 2019 uprising, despite the draconian restrictions adopted by the banks.
While he had already been targeted for several months by an investigation in Switzerland for “aggravated money laundering in connection with a possible embezzlement to the detriment of the Banque du Liban”, two complaints were filed in April in France, where Riad Salamé owns several properties and where suspicious financial flows may have passed. The first was filed by the Swiss foundation Accountability Now, according to the daily The world.
The second comes from the NGO Sherpa, which fights against serious financial crime, and the Collective of victims of fraudulent and criminal practices in Lebanon, formed by savers looted during the crisis that has hit the country since 2019. “A mega investigation opens, ecumenical, with a European dimension ”, welcomed the lawyers of Sherpa and the collective, Mr.it is William Bourdon and Amélie Lefebvre, at the announcement of this French investigation.
“Vast laundering operations will be auscultated and should open all the drawers of the mafia which brought Lebanon to its knees”, they hope. Their complaint, consulted by Agence France-Presse, accuses Riad Salamé and four members of his entourage, his brother Raja, his son Nadi, his nephew and a close collaborator at the Lebanese Central Bank, Marianne Hoayek, of having fraudulently constituted a rich heritage in Europe.
Riad Salamé claims to owe his fortune to his investments
The associations are asking the courts to investigate the massive flight of Lebanese capital since the start of the crisis, the acquisition of luxury real estate in disproportion with the income of the people concerned, but also on the responsibility of financial intermediaries, via tax havens and figureheads. According to the complainants, “the global heritage” of Riad Salamé “today exceeds 2 billion dollars”.
“Its identified assets in Luxembourg reached $ 94 million in 2018”, underlines the complaint, which is based in particular on the revelations of the Lebanese site Daraj.com and the investigations of a platform, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project ( OCCRP). Figures that Riad Salamé disputed, claiming to have built his fortune from inheritances and his career in finance.
According to The world, the central banker explains that “his personal assets amounted to 23 million dollars (19 million euros)” when he took office in 1993 and “that the growth of his assets, since, results from investments which do not contravene the obligations linked to its functions ”, which Lebanese jurists dispute.
This new PNF investigation is in line with the so-called “ill-gotten gains” cases, cases in which French justice, pushed by the fight of NGOs, examines the origin of the heritage in France of foreign leaders, in particular African or Middle Easterners, potentially acquired with public money diverted from their countries.
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