Europe Investigators to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

Europe Investigators to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

European investigators will visit Lebanon next month as part of a probe into the wealth of central bank governor Riad Salameh, a judicial official said on Tuesday.

The long-serving central bank chief, 72, is among top officials widely blamed for Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis, dubbed one of the worst in modern global history by the World Bank.

"Top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat was informed that delegations including general prosecutors and investigative judges and financial prosecutors from Germany, Luxembourg, France and Britain... will arrive in Beirut between January 9 and 20," a Lebanese judicial official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

In March, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized properties and frozen assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a major operation linked to a probe launched by French investigators into Salameh's personal wealth.

The visit aims to conduct investigations into financial affairs linked to Salameh, the official added, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Authorities in the three European countries notified Lebanon's general prosecutor of their intention to question "Salameh, officials at Lebanon's central bank and the heads of commercial banks", the official said.

The delegations have not requested assistance from the Lebanese judiciary, according to the official.

A source in France close to the