The Lebanese state represented by the head of the committee of cases at the Justice Ministry, Judge Helena Iskandar, has lodged a complaint against Banque Du Liban’s Governor Riad Salameh and his brother Raja, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Wednesday.
According to NNA, the committee of cases filed their complaint on charges of bribery, fraud, money laundering and embezzlement, and tax evasion. Salameh’s assistant, Mariane Hoyek, is also targeted by this procedure, as is everyone else that the investigation proves to be involved in the case.
Iskandar asked for the arrest of those involved, the seizure of their properties and the freezing of their bank accounts, along with those of their spouses and children.
Meanwhile, Salameh did not attend a corruption probe hearing on Wednesday held by a local judge alongside European investigators after procedural objections by Salameh’s lawyer.
Salameh’s lawyer arrived at the justice palace without him and objected to the presiding judge over the European officials’ presence, a senior judicial source and a second source with knowledge of the developments said.
Judge Abou Samra sent the objection to the Court of Cassation, which authorized him to rule on the matter. The judge then decided to authorize the European judges’ attendance and delayed the hearing until Thursday.
A delegation of French, German and Luxembourgian judges held a series of hearings in Lebanon in January as part of their investigation into Salameh — who is the subject of at least five European probes.
Abou Samra scheduled the hearing last month after leveling a barrage of charges against Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants. Salameh is accused of embezzling funds from the sale of BDL assets — which according to Swiss media, were placed between a dozen banks in Switzerland — through the brokerage company Forry Associates, which lists his brother Raja as an economic beneficiary.
On the other hand, the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the US dollar on the black market continued sliding, marking 104,000 L.L.
The economist Imad Akkoush told Al-Manar TV that lack of confidence and absence of the governmental measures to address the financial crisis are contributing to the exacerbating inflation calamity.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
