Lebanon’s bank chief charged with corruption, snubs EU investigators

Lebanon’s bank chief charged with corruption, snubs EU investigators

March 15, 2023









BEIRUT — Lebanon’s powerful Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh was charged in absentia with corruption and ordered to be detained after failing to show up Wednesday at a hearing before a local judge alongside European investigators in a money laundering case, judicial officials told The Associated Press. 

Salameh is currently being investigated in a multinational probe over the embezzlement of more than $300 million from the bank between 2002 and 2015.

Judge Helena Iskandar, representing the Lebanese state, also charged Salameh’s brother and his assistant in the same case. 

The 73-year-old governor, who has occupied his position for nearly three decades, is facing multiple probes stemming from allegations of illegal enrichment and money laundering, both domestically and abroad. He denies any wrongdoing. In a memo submitted by Salameh’s attorney to the prosecutor general that was seen by the Lebanese news outlet LBCI, the governor has refused to appear at the European-led hearing as he considers it a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. The hearing was postponed to Thursday and according to Salameh’s attorney, the governor will attend. 

Lebanon is currently grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades. The country’s ruling political elite, including Salameh, has been blamed