Raja Salameh. (Credit: National News Agency)
The brother of Riad Salameh, former governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL), was indicted on Friday as part of the Paris investigations into suspected Lebanese ill-gotten gains, his lawyer and a judicial source told AFP on Wednesday.
Raja Salameh was questioned on Thursday Aug. 1 and Friday Aug. 2 by the examining magistrates in charge of the judicial investigation opened in July 2021 at the Financial Pole of the Paris Judicial Court, a source close to the case said.
Following questioning, he was charged with criminal conspiracy to commit offenses (embezzlement of public funds committed by a public official to the detriment of the State of Lebanon, aggravated breach of trust, active and passive corruption of a public official and concealment and organized money laundering of these offenses), as well as organized money laundering, the judicial source detailed. He has been placed under judicial supervision, including the obligation to post bail, it added.
He 'will be able to demonstrate the inanity of the accusations'
"For two days, Raja Salameh answered all the questions put to him by the investigating magistrates, with the aim of helping to establish the truth," said his lawyer, Karim Beylouni.
"Raja Salameh denies having committed any offense, and in particular having participated in any way in the alleged misappropriation of public funds. He would therefore like to see all the light shed on this affair, and he will be able to demonstrate the inanity of the accusations made against him and his family," he added.
Together with his brother Riad Salameh, who headed the BDL between 1993 and July 2023, and several close relatives, they are suspected of having built up a wealth of real estate and banking assets in Europe through a complex financial set-up, including a massive misappropriation of Lebanese public funds. Riad Salameh rejects these accusations, repeating that he amassed his fortune while working for the American investment bank Merrill Lynch.
He is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued after he failed to respond to a summons from the examining magistrate for possible indictment in May 2023. Six other people are being prosecuted in this case: Salameh's former assistant at the BDL, a relative and nephew of Salameh, former minister Marwan Kheireddine, the head of a Lebanese auditing firm and a person "with a secondary role," according to the judicial source.
Proceedings are underway into these suspected ill-gotten gains in Lebanon and other European countries.
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, Beylouni said that the investigating judge's decision to place his client under investigation "means that he has access to the case file and can exercise his right to defense ... Raja Salameh has always remained at the disposal of the courts, and will continue to do so," the lawyer added. As for the judicial supervision under which Riad Salameh's brother has been placed, it does not appear to have had the effect of prohibiting him from leaving French territory. According to an informed source, he has already returned to Lebanon.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour via AFP.
