Banque du Liban headquarters in Hamra. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L'Orient Today)
In its report concerning the forensic audit of Banque du Liban, the international consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal paints a grim portrait of Riad Salameh’s tenure as the head of Banque du Liban. The report highlights unjustified expenses, over-invoicing, and accounting manipulation, among other concerning issues.
Alvarez & Marsal’s report highlights several instances of overcharging that are not exactly « standard. » A prime example is the procurement of 100 air purifiers, each priced at $3,000, despite a market list price ranging between $800 and $1,200. In this instance, over-invoicing ranged from $170,000 to $220,000.
Some additional expenses stand out as even more astonishing. Over $100,000 was paid to a European gallery for a wax statue. The report’s authors suggest that these expenditures might be deemed « inappropriate » given BDL’s financial state.
Here we delve into these more unusual expenditures.
Below are the expenses made between 2015 and 2020, i.e. only the period examined by Alvarez & Marsal’s audit:
. Two Jaguars: $104,771.4
. A wax statue: $116,000
. Several paintings: $1,780,524
The firm also criticized real estate acquisitions in Lebanon, questioning how investments were pertinent to Lebanon’s central bank:
