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Salameh case: Raja Hamouche tasked with Forry Associates probe

Salameh case: Raja Hamouche tasked with Forry Associates probe

Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh. (Credit: AFP)

The first president of the Beirut Court of Appeal Habib Rizkallah on Thursday commissioned the court's attorney general, Raja Hamouche, to handle the investigation into the company Forry Associates Ltd, in relation to which Banque du Liban's governor, Riad Salameh, and his brother, Raja, are bring prosecuted for "illicit enrichment, forgery and use of forgery," a judicial source confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour.

This contentious case has been pending since June. The public prosecutor at the Beirut Court of Appeal, Ziad Abi Haidar, initially appointed by Prosecutor General Ghassan Oueidat, asked to be removed from the case, citing as his reason that the prosecution of the case does not fall within his jurisdiction, but within that of the financial prosecutor's office.

Judge Hamouche will study the written records and other documents compiled during preliminary investigations conducted by the attorney general at the Court of Cassation Jean Tannous, around the brokerage company which has been linked to the BDL, and of which Raja Salameh is the economic beneficiary.

Forry Associates is suspected of having obtained around $330 million in commissions on the sale of financial securities of the Lebanese central bank between 2002 and 2015.

Abi Haidar was then the subject of an appeal for dismissal presented against him by Riad Salameh, before the civil chamber of the Beirut Court of Appeal presided over by Nassib Elia.

Last January, the court accepted this appeal, considering that by declaring himself incompetent, Abi Haidar had issued a prejudice which in effect would prevent him from ruling on the case.

The judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour that Judge Rizkallah's decision to appoint Hamouche is in accordance with the rule that the replacement judge must be the highest ranking among the attorneys general.

The first president of the Beirut Court of Appeal Habib Rizkallah on Thursday commissioned the court's attorney general, Raja Hamouche, to handle the investigation into the company Forry Associates Ltd, in relation to which Banque du Liban's governor, Riad Salameh, and his brother, Raja, are bring prosecuted for "illicit enrichment, forgery and use of forgery," a judicial source confirmed to...