French courts confirm seizure of Salameh's assets

BEIRUT — The Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday confirmed the seizure of assets owned by Banque du Liban (BDL) Governor Riad Salameh, a high-ranking French judicial source confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour.

According to sources close to the case quoted by AFP, the investigating chamber confirmed the validity of the seizure of Salameh's European real estate and banking assets. These assets, worth tens of millions of euros, included apartments in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on the Champs-Elysées, as well as apartments in the UK and Belgium.

Salameh, who has headed the BDL since 1993, is suspected of having fraudulently acquired the assets. Rather, they were allegedly acquired via a complex financial arrangement and a massive misappropriation of public funds. Salameh is the subject of several investigations in European and in Lebanon.

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"While the appeals had been announced with great fanfare, this confirmation further undermines the Salameh clan's defense, while consolidating an already cumbersome procedure," said William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, lawyers with the Sherpa Association that represents the civil parties. "The procedure marks a definite step forward."

The stakes were high. In its closing arguments, the appeal court's public prosecutor called for the seizures to be confirmed, arguing that if they were overturned, France would be deprived of "any prospect of confiscation" of the assets in the event of a future conviction.

"It's the sinews of war," a plaintiff in the case commented to AFP. 

After failing to appear for a French court summons on May 16, Riad Salameh became the subject of an international arrest warrant issued the same day by the financial investigating judge.

Lebanon, however, refuses to extradite its nationals, making it unlikely that Salameh will stand trial in France.

The governor, who is closely linked to the political class, continues to retain his position as head of the BDL, though his term in office ends in July.