Swiss money laundering probe eyes Lebanon central bank chief Riad Salameh
From the British Virgin Islands to Geneva, Swiss prosecutors are tracking the suspected fund movements of Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh, a Swiss newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Swiss attorney general's office said in January it was
investigating "aggravated money laundering... in connection with possible
embezzlement to the detriment of" the Lebanese central bank. It said it
had requested judicial assistance from Beirut.
Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper reported at the time that the
probe was part of a wider effort spearheaded by France, Britain and the United
States to investigate the activities of Lebanese officials, including Salameh.
On Tuesday, Le Temps reported it had seen the Swiss judicial
assistance request and that it listed a series of movements of funds between
Lebanon and Switzerland.
According to the Swiss daily, the funds, worth more than
$300 million (251 million euros), had been moved by Riad Salameh and his
brother Raja.
Contacted by AFP, the Swiss attorney general's office
confirmed Tuesday that its aggravated money laundering probe involving
Lebanon's central bank was ongoing, but refrained from further comment.
In January, judicial sources told AFP that a Lebanon judge
had referred Salameh to judicial investigation over his mishandling of a
foreign currency scheme meant to stem skyrocketing food prices.
In February, a Lebanese prosecutor passed on to Switzerland
information they had requested as part of their investigation into Salameh, a
judicial source told AFP.
- Multiple accounts -
The Swiss request to the Lebanese authorities highlighted a
contract signed on April 6, 2002 between Lebanon's central bank and a company
called Forry Associates Ltd, Le Temps reported.
Raja Salameh is listed as the beneficiary and while the
company is registered in Britain's Virgin Islands overseas territory, it has an
office in Beirut.
That contract, reportedly signed by Riad Salameh and his
brother, appears to have authorised Forry Associates to sell treasury bonds and
Eurobonds issued by the Lebanese central bank, at a commission.
This arrangement enabled Forry Associates to boost its
account at the HSBC Private Bank in Geneva by $326 million between April 2002
and October 2014, according to the judicial assistance request seen by Le
Temps.
Most of the money that landed in the account, which listed
Raja Salameh as the beneficiary, was reportedly immediately transferred to his
personal account at HSBC, and on to five Lebanese establishments.
The request revealed that Riad Salemeh had also opened an
account with Julius Baer in Zurich in 2008 through a company called Westlake
Commercial Inc based in Panama City, Le Temps reported.
Another account was reportedly opened with UBS in 2012, yet
another with Credit Suisse in 2016, and finally one with the Geneva Banque
Pictet in 2018.
- Real estate probe -
In its judicial assistance request, the attorney general's
office also voices suspicions that Riad Salameh obtained real estate holdings
in Switzerland through two companies based in Geneva, Le Temps reported.
The news comes as Lebanon is grappling with its worst
economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, with more than half of its
population mired in poverty.
The Lebanese pound has lost more than 85 percent of its
value against the US dollar on the black market in a devaluation that has eaten
away at pensions and salaries.
Lebanese banks have limited access to pound deposits and
halted all dollar transactions since 2019 to stem a liquidity crunch and shore
up dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
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