Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis
Al-Qassam Brigades: A NIMR armored personnel carrier carrying an Israeli soldier was targeted with an Al-Yassin missile north of Khan Younis
Israeli media: At least two soldiers killed by anti-tank missile fired at Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip
Local Syrian sources: Mortar shells fell on more than nine villages in the Sweida countryside
Local Syrian sources: Dozens of dead and wounded have arrived at Sweida hospitals as a result of ongoing clashes at several locations in the western Sweida countryside
Local sources: Civilians, including children and women, were injured in the al-Maqous neighborhood of Sweida, in Syria, as a result of ongoing clashes

Lebanese Forces chief smuggled $16 MM prior to banking crisis: Reports

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News Website
  • 22 Jul 2023 22:06
2 Min Read

An anti-corruption activist says a large number of politicians, judges, and journalists have benefited from subsidies before smuggling them to offshore bank accounts prior to the collapse of the banking Ponzi scheme.

  • x
  • Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, enters a hall to meet with his senior party officials, Lebanon, April 4, 2014(AP)
    Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, enters a hall to meet with his senior party officials, Lebanon, April 4, 2014 (AP)

During an interview with Al-Jadeed TV, Gina Chammas, president of the Lebanon Certified Anti-Corruption Managers (LCACM), accused Samir Geagea, president of the right-wing "Lebanese Forces" party, of smuggling $16 million to offshore bank accounts shortly before the banking crisis. 

In addition to Geagea, who has been a long-standing ally of the US in Lebanon, and the chosen partner of the Washington Institute for prospects of reform in Lebanon, Chammas also accused, without specifying namely, a large number of politicians judges and journalists of benefitting from low-interest loans and smuggling them to offshore bank accounts prior the collapse of the banking sector in late 2019.

The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95% of its value since 2019 when the Banking System's Ponzi scheme was exhausted. 

The exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the dollar gradually declined until it lost more than 95% of its value, and more than half of the population became below the poverty line in light of a high unemployment rate.

Related News

Exclusive: Upcoming elections draw Lebanon's strategic path: Frangieh

Israeli talk of manipulating Lebanese elections exposed

Check out: Lebanon’s central bank governor wanted

Central Bank President Riyad Salameh, who has been the central bank governor for 30 years, is largely blamed for Lebanon's catastrophic economic crisis, which the World Bank has labeled one of the worst in recent modern history.

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 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.

Read more: Soros: A shadow set to engulf Lebanon - French media

  • Samir Geagea
  • Lebanon crisis
  • banking crisis
  • Lebanon

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

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