The head of the Lebanese central bank disputes financial malfeasance

 


After a second day of interrogation by European investigators in Beirut as part of an investigation into his personal fortune, the governor of the Lebanese central bank, Riad Salameh, reaffirmed his innocence on Friday.

Salameh, 72, is a member of the Lebanese political elite who is generally held accountable for the crippling economic crisis that started in late 2019 and has been labelled one of the worst in recent history by the World Bank.

In various investigations in Lebanon and overseas, he is accused of crimes including embezzlement, and authorities are looking into the money he has accumulated over the course of his three decades on the job.

Salameh said in a statement that he came as a witness and "not as a suspect or facing charges" after a three-hour hearing on Friday.

In a statement, he stated: "Funds from the Lebanese central bank were not moved to my account. The transactions I made overseas, regardless of the amount, were from my own account.

The claims of financial malfeasance, including potential money laundering and embezzlement, are being investigated by European authorities.

The European investigators spoke with banking representatives in Beirut regarding the transfers of money to nations where Salameh had substantial holdings in January.

Also, they have been investigating the central bank's connections to Forry Associates Ltd, a business established in the British Virgin Islands and whose beneficiary was Salameh's brother.

Forry is reportedly accused of arranging Lebanese government bonds and Eurobonds for a commission that was thereafter purportedly moved to foreign bank accounts.

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