Riad Salameh's bail reduced from $20M to $14M

The new Beirut Indictment Chamber, presided over by Judge Kamal Nassar, agreed Thursday to reduce the bail required for the release of former Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh from $20 million to $14 million.

The original $20 million bail — the highest in Lebanese judicial history — was set Aug. 26 by the Indictment Chamber then headed by Judge Nassib Elia, before the latest judicial reshuffles.

Salameh’s attorney, Marc Habka, had requested his client’s release without bail, citing Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows for unconditional release after one year of pretrial detention.

The decision is tied to the “Consultancy Account” case, linked to transactions between Optimum Invest and BDL involving about $44 million. Investigators allege transfers were made from Optimum Invest to a consultancy account at the central bank, and then moved into private accounts. The chamber has decided to widen the inquiry and conduct further interrogations.

Salameh, whose 30-year tenure as central bank governor ended in July 2023, faces prosecution for alleged financial misconduct in several cases in Lebanon and abroad, all of which he denies. He was also the subject of a third arrest warrant in the Talal Abou Ghazaleh case.

That complaint, filed in 2021, came from a depositor reportedly holding millions of dollars frozen at Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL). It accuses Salameh of issuing central bank circulars that allegedly altered Lebanon’s liberal economic framework — enshrined in the Constitution’s preamble — in order to conceal the effective insolvency of most Lebanese banks. Salameh was previously released in that case on a smaller bail that was paid.

La caution imposée à Riad Salamé revue de 20 à 14 millions de dollars