It was stated that the French judiciary accepted the request of Riyad Salame, the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, against whom corruption cases were filed, to confiscate all his assets in this country.
Lebanese official agency NNA gave the written statement of Lebanese Justice Minister Henry Huri about the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riyad Salame.
It was noted that the request made by the lawyers appointed by the Lebanese state to confiscate all the assets of Selame in France was accepted by the French judiciary.
In the lawsuit filed against Selame on 16 May in Paris, the capital of France, on charges of “money laundering, embezzlement and corruption”, the court issued an “international arrest” decision.
After France, the German judiciary also issued an international arrest warrant for Selame on 30 May on the same charges.
For Selame, who has immunity in Lebanon, an international travel ban was imposed for the second time by the Lebanese judiciary on May 24, and his French and Lebanese passports were confiscated.
Corruption accusations against Selame
The Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Salame, was first prosecuted by judicial authorities in Switzerland in January 2021 on charges of “embezzlement, money laundering and corruption”.The Swiss Attorney General’s Office reported that Forry Company, owned by Salame’s brother, Raja Selame, received $326 million in fees and commissions from 2002 to 2014 from the sale of eurobonds and treasury bills belonging to the Central Bank of Lebanon.
On the other hand, the Lebanese Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Selame in April 2021, after Switzerland requested assistance from Lebanon for its investigation request.
Selame announced on November 17, 2021 that a company audited the documents regarding all investments and money transfers and would submit them to the judicial authorities.
Jabal Lebanon Court Chief Prosecutor Gade Avn announced that a travel ban was imposed on Riyadh Salame on January 11, 2022, and on February 19, 2022, he decided to freeze his movable and immovable assets in the Metn region of Lebanon, where Selame resides.
Selame also gave a statement on the allegations against him in the presence of a judicial committee from Europe on March 16, 2023, in Beirut.