European investigators question Lebanon central bank chief’s assistant in fraud probe

European investigators question Lebanon central bank chief’s assistant in fraud probe

BEIRUT - European investigators in Beirut questioned an assistant to Lebanon's central bank governor on Thursday as part of a probe into whether the governor embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, local media and a judicial source said.

Governor Riad Salameh is being investigated in Lebanon and in at least five European countries over allegedly taking more than $300 million from the central bank together with his brother over more than a decade.

Marianne Houayek, 42 and a longtime assistant to the governor, was scheduled to be questioned as a suspect, according to a schedule for the European investigators seen by Reuters.

A lawyer for Houayek did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, and neither have replied to any such requests from media so far.

The Salameh brothers have both denied wrongdoing. Riad Salameh says he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon's financial crisis that erupted in 2019.

A French court document seen by Reuters says up to $5 million euros from the central bank ultimately went to Houayek via accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Houayek is also mentioned in a 2021 Swiss request for legal assistance from Lebanese authorities, in which Swiss authorities allege she