caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil. (Credit: NNA/File photo)
BEIRUT — European investigators probing alleged corruption questioned caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, former head of operations at Banque du Liban, on Friday morning, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The European delegation has been in Lebanon since last week as part of an investigation into financial malpractice suspicions involving BDL governor Riad Salameh and his brother Raja.
Youssef Khalil was questioned for three hours by European investigators, according to the NNA. He reportedly detailed the nature of his work at BDL and promised to present investigators with specific documents, including legal texts relating to BDL.
'More than 100 questions'
The caretaker minister answered "more than 100 questions" in three hours, a judicial official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
"Khalil answered the questions and said all transactions that took place at the central bank during his tenure were legal," the source added.
Khalil did not previously before the European investigators because security forces refused to deliver his summons, claiming such action was not within their prerogatives.
The investigators also received documents from Raja Salameh and Nada Makhlouf, an employee of the international firm, Deloitte.
According to NNA, the European investigators will leave Lebanon on Friday evening.
The European delegation, made up of French, German and Luxembourg magistrates, arrived in Beirut on April 24 and is on its third trip to Lebanon to investigate commissions received by a company belonging to Raja Salameh, Forry Associates Ltd, during the sale of financial securities of the central bank.
The European investigators questioned Khalil about topics including Forry Associates Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-registered company listing Salameh's brother, Raja, as its beneficiary.
Forry Associates Ltd is suspected of brokering Lebanese treasury bonds and Eurobonds for a commission, which is then allegedly transferred to bank accounts abroad.
Khalil denied knowing "how to buy Eurobonds, or holding information about Forry's accounts," the judicial official said.
After missing his scheduled hearings before the European investigators three times, Raja Salameh finally appeared for questioning by the judges on Thursday, where he answered around 140 questions, a judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The Salameh brothers, as well as the governor's former assistant, Marianne Hoyek, are being prosecuted for corruption, forgery, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion. Riad Salameh has consistently denied the charges against him.