The days when Riad Salameh was presented as a financial genius are long gone. Over the last three years, the cascade of revelations about the governor of the central bank of Lebanon has been erasing almost three decades during which he was regularly praised by the financial world.
Today, he is the target of a series of judicial investigations in Lebanon and abroad for "money laundering," "illicit enrichment" and "embezzlement." The former wizard of Banque du Liban has now become the archetype of what most of the Lebanese reject: a seemingly indestructible and corrupt official.
Still at the head of the BDL today, the governor claims his innocence and denounces a campaign to make him a "scapegoat" for the crisis. Ongoing investigations could shed light on this case. But in Lebanon, they are almost always hampered by political reasons.
So of what exactly is Riad Salameh being accused? And why is the Lebanese context so important to consider in these cases?
We take a look at the situation, in video and in five minutes, in this new episode of our "Explainer" series.
You can activate the English subtitles in the settings menu of the video.
