The headquarters of the Banque du Liban in Beirut. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/OLJ)
More than three months after initiating a class action in the United States against the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), its former governor Riad Salameh, several Lebanese banks, and their auditing firms in response to the banking crisis that began in 2019, the plaintiff Karim P. Najjar has been joined by others who, like him, have been illegally denied access to their deposits.
According to the lawsuit filed on July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (equivalent to a trial court in this East Coast state), and reviewed by L’Orient-Le Jour, the class action now includes a larger number of plaintiffs and defendants. This expansion is possible due to the nature of class action lawsuits, which allow an individual to file on behalf of others in similar situations and be joined by additional plaintiffs.
“The implications of this action could be severe for the individuals and entities targeted, particularly given the suspicions of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, and money laundering it involves, provided the court finds jurisdiction, the complaint is deemed admissible, and a favorable judgment is reached,” Karim Daher, a tax lawyer who chaired the Beirut Bar Association’s depositors' defense committee until March, told L’Orient-Le Jour in April.
According to the latest filing, Karim P. Najjar has been joined by Halim Abou Fayçal, Younes Bazzi, Jacques Fontaine, Mounir Germany, Ibrahim Khreibani, Béchara Rizk, Samar Chami, Joseph Tleiji, Salim Tleiji, and Ramzi Zibaoui.
The scope of the lawsuit has also been broadened to include more defendants. In addition to the BDL, its former governor, and the commercial banks Bank of Beirut, BLF, BLOM Bank, Byblos Bank, Fransabank, and SGBL, the complaint now also targets four new banks: Bank Audi, Bankmed, Crédit Libanais, and Fenicia Bank, bringing the total number of banks involved to ten. It also includes all other Lebanese commercial banks mentioned as potential co-conspirators, such as: al-Baraka Bank, AM Bank, Arab Bank, BLC Bank, Bank BEMO, Banque Misr Liban, BBAC, BSL Bank, Cedrus Bank, Credit Bank, Emirates Lebanon Bank, First National Bank, IBL Bank, Lebanese Swiss Bank, LGB Bank, MEAB, North Africa Commercial Bank, and Saradar Bank.
Additionally, the lawsuit continues to target the auditing firms employed by the banks, namely Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and BDO International, through some of their subsidiaries.
The plaintiffs accuse the Lebanese banking system of violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of contract, money laundering, illicit enrichment and negligence, among other charges.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.
