Former Minister of Economy Amin Salam. (Credit: NNA, archive photo)
BEIRUT — Financial Public Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim ordered the arrest of Karim Salam on Friday on financial criminal charges. Salam is the brother of the former Minister of Economy in Najib Mikati's government, Amin Salam.
A judicial source confirmed that Ibrahim took this measure immediately after interrogating Salam and relied mainly on the Penal Code to do so, specifically articles relating to "theft and waste of public funds," and money laundering. The case has been transferred to the interim first investigating judge of Beirut, Bilal Halaoui.
On March 20, Chief Prosecutor Judge Jamal Hajjar imposed a travel ban Amin Salam, following a request for judicial inquiry made earlier by the parliamentary committee on the economy. This ban also affected his brother Karim, his advisor Fadi Tamim, and a financial auditor, Elie Abboud, who were all accused by the committee of "extortion of funds and wasting public money."
This case is partly related to an affair of abuse of power and extortion of funds from insurance companies, which has been under examination by the financial prosecutor's office since 2023. Tamim was referred to the head of Beirut's criminal court, Judge Tarek Bitar, who ordered his arrest. As for Karim, his accounts were already frozen at the request of the financial prosecutor, pending their analysis by the Special Investigation Commission of the Bank of Lebanon.
In July 2024, Ibrahim told L'Orient Today that Karim and two other people accused of blackmailing insurance companies had appeared before him to testify in the case's investigation, which was being led by the head of the Beirut Criminal Court, Judge Samir Akiki.
Another former minister from Najib Mikati's government, Georges Bouchikian, is also being pursued in a bribery case. Bouchikian was the industry minister.