Former Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salameh during an interview with AFP on Dec. 20, 2021 in Beirut. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP Archives)
BEIRUT —The nephew of Riad Salameh, former governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL), has been indicted in Paris in a case involving ill-gotten gains, a source close to the case revealed to AFP on Monday.
Emile Salameh, 38, son of Raja Salameh — also implicated in the case — was indicted on Feb. 12 following questioning by a financial investigative judge, on charges of criminal conspiracy, money laundering, and receiving stolen goods. He is also accused of managing two companies registered in the UK, which own several properties in London acquired using the same fraudulent financial maneuvers, the source said.
Emile’s father, Raja, and his uncle, Riad, have all been embroiled in a year-long scandal involving massive misappropriation of Lebanese public funds for personal gain.
His lawyer, Stephane de Navacelle, told AFP that Salameh, “has endeavored to provide useful clarifications to the investigation and will continue to provide his assistance in this context.”
This procedure concerns "facts attributable to third parties and in which he did not participate,” the lawyer said. "He has every confidence in the outcome of these proceedings, which will demonstrate his good faith.”
During questioning, Salameh, who lives in London, said he was unaware that the funds transferred by his father, Riad Salameh's brother, could have been of illicit origin, AFP’s source said.
Little information about Emile Salameh is available online. His LinkedIn page says he is still head of Cornerstone Asset Advisors Ltd, a London-based property management consultancy he founded in 2014. It also states that in May 2022, he stepped down from the board of directors of Portemilio, the famous hotel and resort in Kaslik (Kesrouan) that was established by his mother's family.
A lawyer for the Sherpa association and the Collective of Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal Practices in Lebanon (CPVCL) declared that the new indictment brings together “a few more pieces” and that soon “the puzzle of the predatory system set up by Riad Salameh and his clan will be complete.”
At least three other people are being prosecuted in this case: Salameh’s former assistant at BDL, a close associate of Salameh, and former minister Marwan Kheireddine.
Riad Salameh is the subject of an arrest warrant issued after he failed to respond to a summons from the examining magistrate in May 2023. Head of the BDL between 1993 and July 2023, he is suspected of having built up a wealth of real estate and banking assets in Europe through a complex financial set-up and the massive misappropriation of Lebanese public funds.
Salameh has rejected the accusations, claiming that he amassed his fortune while working for the American investment bank Merrill Lynch. Proceedings are currently underway into the investigation of the suspicious accumulation of disproportionate wealth, both in Lebanon and in Europe.