• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Politics
  4. French Anti-Graft Judges Probe Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor
Politics

French Anti-Graft Judges Probe Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor

  • Source: Al Mayadeen
  • 16 Jul 2021 23:51
  • 1 Shares

French anti-corruption judges have taken over the probe into the personal wealth of Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor, according to AFP.

  • Lebanon’s Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh
    Lebanon’s Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh

French prosecutors said on Friday that the investigation into the personal fortune of Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has been handed over to French anti-corruption courts, according to AFP.

The Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) in France handed up its findings for a judicial investigation into suspicions of aggravated money laundering on July 2.

In May, France launched an investigation against Salameh, following a similar step in Switzerland, according to the same source.

Salameh can be summoned for questioning by French judges, who can also collaborate with investigators in other countries and seize his assets.

On his part, Pierre-Olivier Sur, Salameh's lawyer, stated that his client "denies these crimes in their totality" and demanded access to the investigators' findings.

According to William Bourdon and Amelie Lefebvre, lawyers for Sherpa and the savers' collective, the French move marks the start of "a worldwide mega-investigation across Europe."

"Extremely large money laundering schemes will be investigated," they added.

Furthermore, the investigation was prompted by complaints filed by the Swiss foundation Accountability Now, the anti-corruption NGO Sherpa in France, and the Collective Association of Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal Practices in Lebanon, which was founded by savers who had been devastated by the post-2019 crisis.

Their criminal complaint accuses Salameh and people close to him -- his brother, his son, a nephew, and an aide at the Central Bank -- of fraudulently accumulating a massive fortune in Europe.

Besides, demonstrators blocked key roads across Lebanon after the Lebanese pound hit record lows on the market.

  • Lebanon
  • Riad Salameh
  • France
  • Protests

Trending Now

All
France charges Ukrainian woman close to Riad Salameh

France charges Ukrainian woman close to Riad Salameh over his fortune

Most Read

Indonesian president Joko Widodo during an interview in Jakarta in 2016 (Reuters)

Widodo urges Indonesia to abandon Visa, MasterCard to be 'independent'

  • Asia
  • 16 Mar
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen listens to opening remarks before testifying before the Senate Finance Committee about the President's proposed budget request for the fiscal year 2024, Thursday, March 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

US Debt ceiling ‘must be raised’ ahead of default: Treasury Secretary

  • US & Canada
  • 16 Mar
The Desert of the Real; Russia's SMO a year later

The Desert of the Real; Russia's SMO a year later

  • Europe
  • 14 Mar
Rallies held in Washington DC to protest US militarism

Peace rallies held in Washington DC to protest US militarism

  • US & Canada
  • 18 Mar

Read this

All
20 years on, US-led Iraq War atrocities revealed in numbers
MENA

20 years on, US-led Iraq War atrocities revealed in numbers

  • 20 Mar
People walk past rubble of damaged buildings, in the aftermath of the earthquake, in Aleppo, Syria February 7, 2023. (Reuters)
MENA

Donors pledge €7bln as quake aid for Turkey, Syria, fall vastly short

  • 20 Mar
so maliuhhhh
Africa

Somalia to record 135 deaths a day due to drought: UN study

  • Today
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US in April 2022 (AP)
US & Canada

20% of Americans agree with Greene's 'national divorce' between states

  • 20 Mar
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS