BDL source denies Salameh submitted resignation to Miktati

BEIRUT — A source at Banque du Liban (BDL) denied to L’Orient-Le Jour on Thursday information circulating in local media that BDL Governor Riad Salameh has submitted his letter of resignation to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

"There is no truth in what is being said," the source told L'Orient-Le Jour in reference to the reports.

The controversial information emerged in the Nidaa Al Watan newspaper, when the outlet published a story citing "a source following the case" as saying that “Salameh deposited a letter of resignation with his signature to Mikati, but without specifying the date, pending the appropriate moment to announce it in light of judicial developments."

On Wednesday, the Lebanese state represented by the head of the committee of cases at the Justice Ministry, Judge Helena Iskandar, lodged a complaint against Salameh and his brother Raja.

The state's move comes as concern mounts in Lebanon that litigation abroad against the central bank chief on charges of embezzlement could put state assets at risk.

The Lebanese state's complaint against the Salamehs coincided with a hearing for Riad Salameh scheduled for Wednesday morning by Judge Charbel Abou Samra. The BDL governor, however, did not attend the hearing, and it was postponed to Thursday at 10.30 a.m.

During Thursday's hearing, the BDL head is expected to answer questions from a delegation of European judges also investigating him for financial wrongdoing. 

The French, German and Luxembourgian judges held a series of hearings in Lebanon in January as part of their investigation into Salameh — who is the subject of at least five European probes.

Salameh is accused of embezzling funds from the sale of BDL assets — which according to Swiss media, were placed between a dozen banks in Switzerland — through the brokerage company Forry Associates, which lists his brother Raja as an economic beneficiary. The central bank chief has repeatedly denied these accusations.