Lebanon’s longtime Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, his brother Raja and an affiliate have been charged with cash laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment on Thursday after months of delay within the high-profile case.
But the event has additionally prompted fears that authorities in Lebanon, the place Salameh retains high-level political backing, might decelerate cooperation with European investigators wanting into the governor over the identical prices.
His newest time period ends in July, and whereas he says he won’t search to remain on, Lebanon’s finance minister instructed Reuters that Salameh’s tenure might be prolonged together with different public servants because the governor could be troublesome to switch.
Since 2019, Lebanon has been within the throes of the worst financial and monetary disaster in its fashionable historical past, rooted in a long time of corruption and mismanagement. Three quarters of the nation’s inhabitants, of 6 million folks, now dwell in poverty.
The 72-year-old Salameh was as soon as hailed because the guardian of Lebanon’s monetary stability however many now maintain him chargeable for the disaster, citing insurance policies that drove up nationwide debt and brought on the Lebanese pound to lose greater than 90% of its worth in opposition to the greenback.
In feedback to Reuters on Thursday, Salameh mentioned the fees have been “not an indictment” and pledged to abide by judicial procedures.
“And as you know, one is innocent till proven guilty by a court of law,” he mentioned in a written response to questions.
The prices are the product of an 18-month probe by Lebanon into whether or not Salameh and his brother Raja embezzled greater than $300 million from the Central Bank between 2002 and 2015.
Judicial authorities in no less than 5 European nations are investigating the Salameh brothers over the identical prices.
The brothers have denied the fees. The governor has dismissed accusations of illicit enrichment as a part of an effort to scapegoat him for Lebanon’s monetary collapse, which introduced new scrutiny of his three a long time as governor.
Salameh, central financial institution governor since 1993, nonetheless enjoys backing from highly effective Lebanese leaders. Many judges largely owe their appointments to politicians.
Two interpretations
Salameh was charged final yr over illicit enrichment in a case associated to the acquisition and rental of Paris flats, together with some to Lebanon’s central financial institution.
He was repeatedly summoned for questioning in that case, however didn’t attend the hearings.
The prices filed on Thursday by Beirut’s Attorney General Raja Hamoush in opposition to the Salameh brothers and an adviser, Marianne Hoayek, included embezzlement, cash laundering, illicit enrichment, fraud and tax evasion, based on a senior judicial supply.
After the fees have been filed, the case was moved to Judge Charbel Abou Samra to overview in full earlier than any hearings might be set, the supply mentioned. Abou Samra had but to obtain the case file in its entirety, the supply added.
The prices signify the primary growth within the broader case in opposition to Salameh since June 2022, when investigator Judge Jean Tannous accomplished his probe and referred it to the nation’s prime prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat.
Oueidat referred the case – which included Salameh and a variety of unidentified associates – to a Beirut prosecutor to file prices together with illicit enrichment, embezzlement, cash laundering and tax evasion.
But that prosecutor recused himself and was later faraway from the case following a criticism from Salameh.
Oueidat mentioned in January that he was planning on naming a brand new prosecutor to the case however that any newly appointed decide might delay responding to cooperation requests by European judges, pending the Lebanese decide’s personal investigations.
European investigators are scheduled to return to Lebanon in early March to proceed their probe after a January go to through which they questioned a dozen witnesses, together with bankers.
European prosecutors have but to file any prices. They suspect the Salameh brothers used among the cash to amass actual property property in France and throughout Europe, based on European officers and French court docket paperwork accessed by Reuters.
Nizar Saghieh of the Legal Agenda rights watchdog, mentioned the brand new Lebanese prices might be interpreted as a optimistic step after months of delay.
“But the second interpretation is that this is just to tell foreign investigators that we are conducting our own probe” and thereby decelerate cooperation with the European officers, he instructed Reuters.
Saghieh mentioned that authorized complaints in opposition to the judiciary might nonetheless decelerate the prosecution.
“The risk of paralysis and blockage is still present. We cannot say that this will definitely yield a result,” he mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
