Riad Salameh, governor of the Banque du Liban from 1993 to 2023. Illustration by Guilhem Dorandeu.
Financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim filed charges Wednesday against Riad Salameh for "embezzlement and theft of public funds, forgery, and illicit enrichment" and referred him to caretaker Beirut First Investigative Judge Bilal Halawi, according to the National News Agency (NNA, official).
These charges come a day after the former Banque du Liban (BDL) governor's arrest and provisional detention, following a hearing with caretaker Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation, Jamal Hajjar.
Interrogation later this week?
Hajjar has "completed his preliminary investigations" with Salameh, according to NNA, and referred the former governor to the financial prosecutor. Judge Ibrahim then referred Salameh to caretaker Beirut First Investigative Judge Bilal Halawi, asking him to interrogate the former BDL governor and issue an arrest warrant if necessary, based on the aforementioned charges. Judge Halawi will begin his work on Thursday and will determine the timing of Salameh's interrogation, "for either Friday or next Monday," NNA concluded.
The association "The Cry of Depositors," which regularly protests against restrictive banking measures and has made Salameh one of its targets, called for a sit-in outside the Beirut courthouse on Thursday at 10 a.m., "to pressure the judiciary to open all financial cases."
Optimum Invest's response
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Optimum Invest said it is "fully cooperating with the Lebanese judicial authorities" and has "immediately provided all requested information and documents." "We confirm our commitment to fully assist the judicial authorities in their investigation," the company added. "All transactions between Optimum Invest and the Banque du Liban were conducted in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. This has been confirmed by a forensic audit report conducted by Kroll Associates U.K. Limited in 2023. This report revealed no evidence of wrongdoing or illegality by Optimum Invest."
To everyone's surprise, Salameh was placed in provisional detention on Tuesday for further investigation. He had been summoned last Thursday by the criminal police and can be held for four days under this framework or until new evidence emerges.
The procedure, initiated under the oversight of Jamal Hajjar, reportedly concerns one of the findings from the forensic audit conducted by the international firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), which was commissioned by the Lebanese government in 2020 and delivered its report in July 2023. Specifically, the investigation focuses on three transactions carried out between the Banque du Liban (BDL) and the company Optimum Invest. The central bank is said to have conducted these operations, which involved selling Treasury bonds in Lebanese pounds to the Lebanese financial company and then immediately repurchasing the same bonds with a premium, between 2015 and 2016. These transactions reportedly totaled $111 million, placed in a "consultation account" at the BDL, with unknown beneficiaries.