Aoun’s ban prohibits Salameh from leaving the country via sea, land or air. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun has issued a travel ban against Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh following a complaint submitted by the “People Want to Reform the System” group, represented by its lawyers Haitham Ezzo and Pierre Gemayel, a judicial source confirmed to L’Orient Today on Tuesday.
Here’s what we know:
• The group filed a complaint against the BDL governor for embezzling and wasting public funds, along with illegal enrichment and money laundering.
• Aoun’s ban prohibits Salameh from leaving the country via sea, land or air.
• People Want to Reform the System identifies as a group active in the field of combating political, financial, security, justice and administrative corruption.
• Last November, Lichtenstein joined France, Luxembourg and Switzerland as the latest country to open an investigation into questionable financial dealings in relation to Salameh.
• The central bank governor, who has been at the helm of BDL since 1993, faces growing scrutiny for his role in Lebanon’s ongoing financial crisis, which Tuesday saw the national currency hit a new record low of more than LL33,000 to the US dollar on the parallel market.