Reuters reported, quoting two sources, that the Lebanese authorities will allow European investigators to attend the interrogation session of the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, who is facing judicial procedures in his country and in several European countries.
The European investigators will arrive in Beirut tomorrow, Monday, for their second visit within the framework of the investigation, and they will be allowed to attend the interrogation session, according to a judicial source and another well-informed source.
The judicial source stated that the Lebanese judge presiding over the session would not allow foreign investigators to ask direct questions to safety during the session that is scheduled to take place next Wednesday.
The European investigators had visited Beirut weeks ago, where they heard witnesses in the context of these investigations, including bank managers and employees of the Banque du Liban.
On February 23, the Appeal Public Prosecutor in Beirut, Judge Raja Hamoush, charged the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, his brother Raja, and his assistant, Marianne Howayek, with crimes of illegal enrichment, money laundering, tax evasion, forgery, and embezzlement.
These accusations coincide with investigations conducted by several European countries about his wealth, specifically before the courts in Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Germany, and the most important of them is based on suspicions of transferring millions of dollars to European banks in an irregular manner with the help and assistance of his brother.
Salameh denied any wrongdoing, and confirmed that he would abide by the judicial procedures.
The Lebanese judiciary began an investigation into Salama’s wealth and its source in April 2022, after he was targeted by an investigation in Switzerland, and later in other European countries, on suspicion of his and his brother’s involvement in cases of embezzlement of more than 300 million dollars.
Despite the complaints, summons, investigations, and travel ban issued against him in Lebanon, Salameh is still in the position he has held since 1993, which made him one of the longest-serving central bank rulers in the world, and his term is supposed to end next May.