Lebanese justice questioned Monday fifteen bank officials on the suspicious transfer of 2.3 billion dollars abroad in November and December, in full movement of protest and even when international transfers were prohibited.
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Since September, Lebanese banks have imposed draconian conditions on withdrawals, especially in dollars - currency used in the same way as local currency in Lebanon. Since early November, they have prevented any transfer abroad, from Lebanon, a country facing its worst economic and financial crisis since the civil war (1975-1990). In recent months, politicians and bankers have been accused by protesters and some politicians of having transferred large sums abroad as the economic crisis deepened and an unprecedented protest movement against the political class, launched on October 17, shook the country. The authorities announced at the end of December the opening of an investigation in cooperation with the Lebanese central bank.
On Monday, financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim questioned the directors of the boards of directors of fourteen local banks and the president of the banking association, Selim Sfeir, according to a legal source who requested anonymity. The investigation concerns " the transfer abroad of $ 2.3 billion in the two months following the start of the popular uprising ", she added, which resulted in "a reduction in liquidity " in the country.
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According to the legal source, the financial prosecutor asked the bankers why the restrictions "did not apply to influential people " when most Lebanese could not even make dollar transfers for commercial activities or to pay school fees for their children abroad. In recent months, the Lebanese pound has lost about 40% of its value against the greenback in exchange offices, and many companies have cut wages, laid off workers in large numbers or shut down. The country, which is collapsing under a public debt peaking at 150% of its GDP, is likely to be unable to repay $ 1.2 billion in debt in foreign currency maturing on March 9.
According to Bank of America Merill Lynch, local banks hold 50% of Lebanon's debt issued in foreign currencies, the central bank 11% and foreign investors 39%. Local media said, however, that part of the debt held by the banks had been sold to foreign investors, a subject which was also raised on Monday during interrogations by the financial prosecutor.
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