The acting governor of Lebanon’s central bank on Monday froze the accounts of the bank’s former chief and his close relatives and associates days after the US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on them .
Wassim Mansouri’s decision was made public after a meeting of the central bank’s special investigation committee. The commission is responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. He named former governor Riad Salameh, his son Nady, his brother Raja, his close associate Marianne Hoayek and his former partner Anna Kosakova.
Mansouri ordered that all accounts in Lebanese banks and financial institutions of the five individuals be frozen. It also lifts the banking secrecy obligations of individuals at the request of the judicial authorities.
Riad Salameh’s cellphone was off when he was contacted for comment by The Associated Press.
Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year term on July 31 under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country’s historic economic crisis.
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France, Germany and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his close associates for alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. Paris and Berlin issued Interpol notices on Salameh in May, although Lebanon does not deliver its citizens to foreign countries.
The US Treasury Department said last week that the US had coordinated sanctions with the UK and Canada and that assets linked to Salameh would be frozen.
The interim governor of the Lebanese central bank has frozen the accounts of the former leader, his associates and his relatives.
Salameh has repeatedly denied allegations of corruption, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He insists his wealth comes from inherited properties, investments and his previous job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.
Salameh is also under investigation in Lebanon. Lebanese justice took his passports and imposed a travel ban shortly after receiving the notices from Interpol.
Salameh criticized the European investigation and said it was part of a media and political campaign to scapegoat him.
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Once hailed as the guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability, Salameh was among those most blamed for the policies that led to the country’s economic crisis, which decimated the value of the Lebanese pound by around 90% against to the US dollar and triggered triple-digit inflation. .
A forensic audit of Lebanon’s central bank by a New York-based firm last week found years of misconduct by Salameh and $111 million in “illegitimate fees”.
A copy of the 331-page Alvarez & Marsal document was seen by The Associated Press on Friday. The audit was among the main demands of the international community and the International Monetary Fund, which over the years has increasingly lost faith in Lebanon in crisis.