France opens a major research study by the largest bank in Lebanon | Banking Issues

Prosecutors in France have opened a preliminary investigation into false allegations against Lebanon’s central bank chief Riad Salameh, who also accused him of being part of a terrorist group.

French authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of money laundering in Lebanon’s central bank, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday.

This comes as Switzerland has launched an investigation into money laundering and fraudulent banking in Lebanon’s largest bank, which is now the main source of financial problems in Lebanon.

The French attorney general’s office said an investigation into Riad Salameh’s case was opened in late May on charges of embezzlement and collusion with a terrorist group.

Salameh, 70, has run a major bank in Lebanon since 1993 and has been regarded for many years as a symbol of the country’s economy.

In a statement sent on Sunday by the bank’s governor, French lawyer Salameh’s Pierre-Olivier Sur denied this as a means of political dialogue.

In 2019, Lebanon experienced economic and financial crises in memory. Since then, the country’s currency, the Lebanese pound, has lost about 90% of its value in the black market, undermining the purchasing power of Lebanese ordinary people.

More than 40 percent of Lebanese households say they have struggled to pay for food and other necessities.

Mr Salameh confirmed to depositors last Thursday that the central bank – the Banque du Liban – was not bankrupt and that people’s deposits were safe and would be repaid shortly thereafter. reversing the election banning the removal of dollar bills that sparked protests in the streets.

Anti-government protesters in Lebanon now refer to Salameh – a former financier and Merrill Lynch – as a “thief”.

Protests have been taking place repeatedly outside his office in Beirut as the financial crisis worsens. According to the World BankGlobal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was cut by about $ 55bn in 2019 to $ 33bn last year, GDP per capita decreasing by 40%.

In January, the Swiss attorney general said he had asked Lebanon to take action in investigating a central bank.

Lebanese journalists have announced in recent months that Salameh, his brother and other aides have been involved in illegal business. Mistakes include transferring foreign currency even when home-based expenses are set.

Salameh declined to comment.

France’s anti-corruption group Sherpa sued Salameh in April, citing money that also included millions of euros.

In response last month, Salameh said he had shown that he had earned his fortune before working in a bank about 30 years ago.

Lebanon opened its investigation in April following a lawsuit from Switzerland alleging that more than $ 300m had been seized from a central bank through a company run by Salameh’s brother.

Lebanese financial and political officials are facing increasing pressures on money laundering, corruption and obstruction of justice.