The European judges who are investigating in Beirut on suspicions of illicit enrichment of the governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL) Riad Salamé will question firms which carried out the audit of the central bank, indicated a Lebanese judicial source on Friday.
The French magistrates - including Judge Aude Buresi -, Germans, Belgians and Luxembourgers, have been carrying out a new mission to Beirut since Tuesday linked to the investigation into the fortune of Riad Salamé.
The governor of the BDL, whose mandate ends in July, is the subject of a series of judicial investigations both at home and abroad, relating to suspicions of money laundering and '
illicit enrichment
'.
The judges summoned for next week the directors in Lebanon of three firms, including two international ones, Deloitte and Ernst & Young (E&Y), which carried out the audit of the BDL, a judicial source told AFP.
Summons of Raja Salamé
The magistrates also summoned for next week Raja Salamé, the brother of the governor of the BDL, within the framework of the investigation relating to more than 300 million dollars of suspicious movements of funds operated by the governor and his brother.
Raja Salamé did not appear before the judges this week, his lawyer citing medical reasons.
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The former assistant to the governor of the BDL, Marianne Hoayek, for her part appeared before the judges on Thursday and Friday, according to the judicial source.
They questioned her about “
accounts belonging to her or belonging to the Salamé brothers in Lebanon or abroad, as well as movements of funds
,” the source said.
Financial arrangement and massive embezzlement of public funds
The magistrates also want to question the current finance minister, Youssef Khalil, who was a senior BDL official, next week, according to the same source.
In March, European judges had heard in Beirut Riad Salamé, who had refuted all suspicions of money laundering or illicit enrichment, according to a judicial source.
Arrived at the head of the BDL in 1993, Mr. Salamé is accused by many Lebanese, like a large part of the country's political class, of corruption and of being one of the main responsible for the serious financial crisis which is hitting Lebanon since the fall of 2019. The governor of the BDL, suspected of having built up a rich real estate and banking heritage in Europe through a complex financial arrangement and massive embezzlement of Lebanese public funds, is also summoned to Paris on 16 May for an indictment.
