Ex-head of Lebanese central bank detained in corruption case

BEIRUT, September 3. /TASS/. Riad Salameh, the ex-governor of the Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s central bank, was detained after interrogation in the Beirut Office of Prosecutor, a Lebanese court source told TASS.
“Such temporary court measure was applied against Salameh with the sanction of General Prosecutor Jamal Hajjar within the framework of the investigation underway in the case of Banque du Liban’s sale of bonds and deposit certificates to the amount of $8 bln to Optimum Invest brokerage,” the source said.
The ex-governor of the central bank of Lebanon is charged with financial fraud and illegal receipt of the commission fee. “Interrogation of Salameh will continue for four days more,” the source noted. “Then the final court decision will be made,” he added.
In 2023, actions with charges on money laundering in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco and Belgium were instituted against Salameh, who was the governor of the Banque du Liban for thirty years.