The governor of the Bank of Lebanon Riad Salameh and his former assistant Marianne Hoayek. Archive photo Le Commerce du Levant
The French online outlet Mediapart revealed Thursday in an investigation the existence of a “secret plan” that aimed to neutralize the investigation by French judges into the former governor of the Bank of Lebanon Riad Salameh who is suspected of embezzlement and money laundering since July 2021 by French authorities and is the subject of an international arrest warrant.
According to Mediapart, this extraordinary project was to "screw up the case," "transfer the judge," "stop any Lebanese or French attacks" against the banker and his relatives and "obtain the withdrawal of the approval" of the NGO civil party Sherpa, through the payment of colossal sums to possible intermediaries.
The notes detailing this plan were found in a safe at the Paris home of the governor's former aide, Marianne Hoayek, during a police search on June 26. Indicted since that date for “criminal conspiracy” and “organized gang money laundering,” Hoayek has admitted to having written these notes, in French and English, and having “presented them to the governor.” She indicated that these plans had not been acted on. According to investigators' calculations, a total budget of 20.45 million would have been planned for what they described as a “corruption project.”
According to information from Mediapart, resulting from the interrogation of Hoayek, the intermediary who proposed this plan to the ex-governor is none other than the former minister Wiam Wahab. Contacted by the French investigative media, the latter denied any involvement in this project.