The former governor of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salameh, has been charged with embezzling $42 million and will remain in custody until next week.
Salameh, 73, was charged by the Office of the Public Prosecutor on Sept. 4, one day after he was detained following an interrogation on Sept. 2 by Lebanon’s top public prosecutor, Judge Jamal al-Hajjar.
His case has been transferred to an investigating judge, who will decide whether to keep him in detention.
Salameh has been charged with embezzlement, money laundering, and illicit enrichment.
He denies all wrongdoing and says his wealth was accumulated from inherited properties, wise investments, and his previous income as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.
Salameh was originally appointed to the governor post in 1993 and was praised for his role in steering Lebanon’s economic recovery after a 15-year civil war.
He managed to keep the economy running amid long spells of political turmoil and tensions with neighbors Syria and Israel.
However, in late 2019, a financial crisis hit Lebanon, and Salameh’s stock fell. He retired in July 2023.
A permanent replacement has not been named; the bank’s vice governor, Wassim Mansouri, is the acting governor.
During his interrogation by al-Hajjar on Sept. 2, Salameh was asked questions about allegations that a company, Optimum, was hired to manipulate financial statements and conceal the central bank’s hemorrhaging finances.
Salameh is accused of using Optimum to help facilitate embezzlement from the bank.
The central bank has not commented on the charges against Salameh.
France, Germany, and Luxembourg are also investigating Salameh and his associates over the alleged laundering of $330 million and illegal enrichment.
Salameh has claimed that the European investigation was part of a political and media-led campaign to make him a scapegoat for Lebanon’s financial troubles.
The United States, Canada, and the UK have all imposed sanctions on Salameh and several associates.
A Flight Risk?
In deciding whether to release Salameh, the investigating judge will have to consider whether he is a flight risk.He may also be conscious of the Carlos Ghosn affair.
Ghosn, who was born in Brazil to Lebanese parents, was greeted by then-Lebanese President Michel Aoun after flying into Beirut via Istanbul.
Lebanon does not have an extradition agreement with Japan.
Lebanon has been without a president for almost two years and is run by a caretaker Cabinet with limited functions.
The last president, 88-year-old Aoun, was a former Lebanese army general and Maronite Christian nationalist.
His term ran out in October 2022, but squabbling political rivals have been unable to choose a successor and the prime minister—Lebanon’s richest man, Najib Mikati—has assumed the powers of the presidency amid the deadlock.
