Entrance to the Baabda Palace of Justice. (Credit: NNA)
The public prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Sami Sader, on Friday referred the case of "fraudulent withdrawals" to the first investigating judge of Mount Lebanon, Nada el-Asmar.
In this case, three depositors — a renowned dermatologist (R.M.), his niece (S.A.), and a surgeon (A.C.) — filed complaints last March against Cedrus Bank and a former branch manager in Jounieh,
C.F., for "having withdrawn without their knowledge" more than one million dollars, $100,000, and $900,000, respectively, from their accounts.
Before referring the case to Judge Asmar, the Mount Lebanon prosecutor pressed charges against C.F., as well as Cedrus Bank as a corporate entity represented by its CEO Fadi Assali, and "any person implicated by the investigation," for "manipulation of bank accounts, forgery and use of forgeries, fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering."
The case file was sent to Judge Sader on Oct. 6 by Myrna Kallas, the deputy attorney general at the Court of Cassation, following a preliminary investigation she carried out, which included interrogations and confrontations. As part of this process, the magistrate arrested C.F. on Sept. 24, who remains in detention.
