The former governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, in Beirut, on Dec. 20, 2021. (Credit: Joseph Eid / AFP)
BEIRUT — Lawyers for former Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh challenged the French judiciary’s jurisdiction to seize assets abroad before the Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday, sources close to the case told AFP.
The seizures, carried out in the United Kingdom and Belgium, target assets linked to Salameh and his associates and amount to 37 million euros, according to one of the sources. The investigating chamber is due to issue its decision on Nov. 26.
These seizures are part of an ongoing judicial investigation led by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), in the so-called Lebanese illicit assets case.
The former governor, who served from 1993 to 2023, has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since May 2023. He is suspected of amassing substantial real estate and financial assets in Europe and the United States through the large-scale embezzlement of Lebanese public funds.
His brother Raja Salameh has been under investigation since August 2024, and is under judicial supervision. In total, 10 indictments have been issued in Paris, including one against HSBC Private Bank Switzerland, a subsidiary of the British banking giant HSBC, which is suspected of having helped the former governor embezzle nearly $330 million from the Lebanese central bank.
Asked by AFP on Thursday about the asset seizures, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, lawyers for the Sherpa and CVPFCL associations, which are civil parties in the case, denounced "procedural maneuvers with the clear aim of delaying the conclusion of the judicial investigation and the holding of the trial."
"This technical hearing takes place against the backdrop of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Lebanon, where the Lebanese prosecutor general opposed us visiting our hospitalized client on Sept. 22," said Salameh’s lawyers — Pierre-Olivier Sur, Clara Gérard Rodriguez and Sofia Bougrine.
Indicted by Lebanese authorities, Salamé was arrested again last July in connection with a complaint filed by the new central bank governor, Karim Souaid.
In July, Banque du Liban (BDL) denounced "massive frauds" to AFP. The institution, which is a civil party in France as well as "in Switzerland and Luxembourg," said it intended to "pursue the recovery of all misappropriated funds" to benefit "depositors, who have been severely affected by the crisis that has hit the country and its financial system."
