Judge Ghada Aoun orders seizure of Raja Salameh’s real estate assets

BEIRUT — Judge Ghada Aoun, the top prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, on Monday ordered the seizure of real estate assets belonging to Raja Salameh, the brother of Banque du Liban Gov. Riad Salameh, who was placed in custody late last week.

Here’s what we know:

    • Court documents reviewed by L’Orient-Le Jour showed that Judge Aoun had prohibited Raja Salameh from disposing of “all of his real estate,” pursuant to her charges against the central bank governor’s younger brother.

    • On Thursday, Raja Salameh was detained upon the orders of Judge Aoun, who reportedly charged him with “complicity in illicit enrichment” that also allegedly involved his brother, Riad Salameh.

    • Raja Salameh’s lawyer, Marwan Issa El-Khoury, in a statement categorically denied Judge Aoun’s charges, saying that his client was not a front for Riad Salameh’s business dealings and was not involved in illicit enrichment and money laundering.

    • Less than 24 hours after the arrest of Raja Salameh, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who regularly defends the head of BDL, accused "certain judges” of stoking tension, adding that this was a "dangerous matter."

    • Swiss authorities kicked off a probe in 2020 into the central bank’s payment of $330 million in brokerage fees to offshore firm Forry Associates Ltd between 2002 and 2014. The company, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), is owned by Raja Salameh.

    • The Swiss probe is looking into $258 million of these brokerage fees being transferred to Swiss bank accounts allegedly belonging to Raja Salameh, of which $207 million then were moved into five of his accounts in Lebanon.

    • Judge Ghada Aoun, who is widely perceived as close to the Free Patriotic Movement, has been investigating Riad Salameh on charges of fraud leading up to Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse, charges he strenuously denies. In January, Aoun slapped a travel ban on the central bank governor.

    • President Michel Aoun’s press office has dubbed as “lies” claims that he has directed Judge Ghada Aoun to pursue the probe against Salameh.

    • Parallel to Judge Aoun’s probe, Riad Salameh is already under investigation by Judge Jean Tannous, a deputy prosecutor in Lebanon’s Court of Cassation, following a Swiss request for legal assistance into the matter in the Spring of 2021.