Monitoring Desk
BEIRUT: European investigators will visit Lebanon in January as part of an investigation into the wealth of central bank governor Riad Salameh, a judicial official announced on Tuesday.
The long-serving central bank head is among top officials widely blamed for Lebanon’s extraordinary economic crisis, called one of the worst in modern global history by the World Bank.
In March, Germany, France, and Luxembourg seized properties and frozen assets worth 130 million US dollars in a major operation linked to a probe launched by French detectives into Salameh’s personal wealth.
European investigators
“Delegations including investigative judges, general prosecutors and financial prosecutors from Luxembourg, Germany, and France will arrive in Beirut between January 9 and 20,” the Lebanese judicial official told AFP.
The trip aims to conduct investigations into financial affairs linked to Riad Salameh, the official told the media on the condition of anonymity.
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According to the official, authorities in the three European countries notified Lebanon’s general prosecutor of their intention to question Riad Salameh, the heads of commercial banks, and officials at Lebanon’s central bank. The officials further said that the visiting officials have not demanded assistance from the Lebanese judiciary.
A source in France close to the case also confirmed the next visit. Lebanon opened an investigation into Salameh’s wealth in 2021. Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
