Central bank Governor Riad Salameh. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Central bank chief Riad Salameh failed to appear before Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun for a hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, a judicial source has confirmed to L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• Judge Aoun brought charges of illicit enrichment against Riad Salameh on Monday. These charges relate to apartments acquired in France by Salameh as well as real estate offices rented by the central bank from a former companion of the governor on the prestigious Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
Media reports last week had suggested that Judge Aoun would pursue charges against the Banque du Liban governor alongside his younger brother Raja Salameh, who was arrested last week, with one outlet saying she would endeavor to detain Riad Salameh.
• On Thursday Reuters cited a judicial source as saying that Aoun had charged Raja Salameh with “complicity in illicit enrichment,” which also implicated his brother Riad Salameh.
• In 2020, Swiss authorities launched an investigation into BDL’s payment of more than $330 million in brokerage fees to Forry Associates Ltd between 2002 and 2014. Raja Salameh owns the Virgin Islands registered Forry Associates Ltd.
• Judge Aoun had previously opened an investigation into Riad Salemeh on suspicion of fraud in the period preceding Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse. In February, State Security tried and failed to arrest Riad Salameh following a subpoena issued by Judge Aoun on Feb. 1 after the governor’s third failure to appear for questioning in relation to a suit filed against him by lawyers representing the civil society group The People Want to Reform the System. Critics at the time accused President Michel Aoun of directing the judge to issue a subpoena against the BDL governor. Aoun’s office has denied such claims.