BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s former central bank governor Riad Salame was arrested in Beirut on Tuesday after being questioned by the courts, a judicial source told Reuters.
The hearing, the source said, concerned transactions deemed suspicious between the Banque du Liban (BDL) and the broker Optimum Invest.
Riad Salamé is accused of several financial crimes, including money laundering and embezzlement, and is accused of illicit enrichment. The former governor, who led the central bank for 30 years, denies the allegations against him.
Neither Riad Salamé nor his lawyer could be immediately reached.
Optimum Invest did not respond to requests for comment.
Riad Salamé, 74, is under investigation in Lebanon and at least five European countries, including France and Germany, on suspicion of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from Lebanon’s central bank and laundering the funds abroad.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Tala Ramadan, French version by Corentin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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