Lebanon: Arrest of Riad Salamé, former governor of the Central Bank

Published on September 3, 2024

Lecture : 1 minute.

Former governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL), Riad Salamé, suspected of corruption in his country and abroad, was arrested Tuesday in Beirut, a judicial source told AFP. Aged of 74 years old, he was “arrested after being questioned for three hours by the attorney general on suspicion of embezzlement of BDL funds exceeding 40 million of dollars,” said the source, who requested anonymity. Riad Salamé was governor of the central bank from 1993 until July 2023. Many accuse him of being responsible, alongside political leaders to which It is closely linked to the collapse of the economy in Lebanon.

To read: In Lebanon, the tarnished star of Riad Salamé, the banker who bankrupted the country

Suspected of massive embezzlement of Lebanese public funds and of having built up a rich real estate and financial heritage, the former banker Franco-Lebanese denies any wrongdoing. This is the first time he has appeared in court since his term expired on July 31, 2023. No successor has been found for him due to of the political crisis in the country, and the first vice-governor, Wassim Mansouri, has since been tasked with filling the interim.

As early as 2016, Riad Salamé had launched into financial schemes compared to a “pyramid” of Ponzi scheme”. At the end of 2019, the collapse began, causing the Lebanese pound to lose more than 98% of its value and depriving savers of any access to their savings in the banks. Riad Salamé, who did not respond to a summons from a French judge in May 2023, has since been the subject of an international arrest warrant.

As Lebanon refuses to extradite its nationals, The German justice system, for its part, cancelled an arrest warrant against the former governor of the BDL last June, without however completing the investigation against him. The United States, Canada and the The UK imposed economic sanctions against him over corruption, with Washington saying his “corrupt and illegal actions contributed to the breakdown of the rule of law” au Lebanon”.

(with AFP)