The former Minister of Economy, Amine Salam. (Credit: NNA.)
BEIRUT — Financial prosecutor Dora al-Khazen filed new charges Monday against former economy minister Amin Salam, his brother and business partner Karim Salam, his adviser Fadi Tamim, as well as Elie Abboud, president of the Certified Accountants' Union, for charges of corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and illicit enrichment.
Khazen forwarded the case to the first investigating judge of Beirut, Bilal Halawi, who is expected to interrogate the main suspects Thursday, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA.)
Salam and his brother, Karim Salam, have been detained since June 11 and April 8 respectively. The former minister, who served between 2021 and 2025 in the government of former Prime Minister Nagib Mikati, is the first former minister to be arrested since the onset in 2019 of the severe economic crisis shaking Lebanon.
In her charges, the judge accused the four defendants of "embezzlement and squandering of public funds, fraud and use of forged documents, blackmail and receipt of bribes from social security organizations, illicit enrichment, violation of the law on asset declaration, the anti-corruption law in the public sector and the law related to the National Anti-Corruption Commission," Ani continues. Judge Khazen also requested arrest warrants be issued against them according to the charges.
These acts are attributed to Salam by the parliamentary Economic Commission headed by Farid Boustany, which had presented a request for opening a judicial investigation more than two months ago, accusing him particularly of having signed contracts with foreign companies for exorbitant amounts compared to services rendered and having used the contributions fund of insurance companies, under the ministry's tutelage, for personal purposes.
Head judge at the court of cassation, judge Jamal Hajjar, ordered the arrest of the former economy minister Salam on Wednesday. He had been interrogated several times during May by Hajjar, then released under domicile election bail, but subjected to a travel ban. On June 2, the interim head of State Litigation, Judge Claude Ghanem, filed a complaint with the cassation prosecutor's office, led by Hajjar, against Salam, following a request from the current Minister of Economy, Amer Bisat. (Karim) Salam has been detained since early April following charges filed by the financial prosecutor's office. On May 13, the Beirut indictment chamber, presided over by Judge Maher Cheaito, overturned an earlier decision by the first investigating judge of Beirut, Bilal Halawi, who had ordered his release on bail. Despite (Karim) Salam's appeal against this decision, the indictment chamber sided with the prosecution, deciding to keep him in detention.