Lebanon informed by Germany of arrest warrant against Salameh

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 May 15:05

The warrant is the second foreign arrest warrant issued for Lebanon's Central Bank Governor within the span of a week.

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh gives an interview for AFP at his office in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 20, 2021 (AFP)

Lebanon has been verbally informed by Germany of an arrest warrant against Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh "on charges of corruption, forgery... and money laundry and embezzlement," a senior judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest warrant to Reuters.

According to Reuters, the Munich public prosecutor’s office said it was involved in the case but declined to comment on the arrest warrant.

The warrant is the second foreign arrest warrant issued for Salameh within the span of a week.

On Friday, Lebanon's caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi confirmed to Reuters that the country received an Interpol warrant for the arrest of Salameh, noting that it will be carried out if the judiciary orders so.

Last week, an informed source told AFP that a French investigating magistrate decreed a warrant for the arrest of the governor for establishing a sophisticated fraudulent financial system to appropriate Lebanese public funds during his three decades as head of the central bank in order to establish his network of real estate and banking assets.

Salameh, who is a dual French-Lebanese citizen, has so far failed to appear before the French court by fortifying himself with Lebanese law, which forbids the extradition of nationals.

Salameh, 72, is being investigated in Lebanon and at least five European countries for embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from Lebanon's central bank. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In March 2022, the European Judicial Cooperation Unit EuroJust announced that France, Germany, and Luxembourg had frozen 120 million euros of Lebanese assets following an investigation targeting Salameh and four of his close associates, including his brother Raja Salameh, on charges of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon worth more than 330 million dollars and 5 million euros, respectively, between 2002 and 2021.

Salameh, who has been central bank governor for 30 years, is facing growing calls to resign ahead of his latest term ending in July.

The long-serving central bank chief is among the top officials largely blamed for Lebanon's catastrophic economic crisis, which the World Bank has labeled one of the worst in recent modern history.

He has long maintained his innocence since the case was opened against him in the wake of the Lebanese financial crisis.

Despite the lawsuits, summons, investigations, and travel ban issued against him in Lebanon, Salameh is still in the position he has held since 1993, making him one of the longest-serving central bank governors in the world.