Judge criticises lawsuit that halted investigation of central bank chief
The Lebanese judge investigating central bank governor Riad Salameh’s wealth has criticised a lawsuit that forced him to suspend the probe.
Tension is increasing between Lebanon’s judiciary and its political and financial elite.
The investigation by Judge Jean Tannous began in April after one of several European countries looking into Mr Salameh’s personal wealth asked for co-operation from judicial authorities in Lebanon.
Mr Salameh, 71, has been the central bank’s chief since 1993 and has faced increasing scrutiny since an economic crisis began in the country in 2019.
Mr Tannous was forced to suspend his investigation after one of the four Lebanese banks he sought as witnesses filed a lawsuit on November 3, accusing him of gross misconduct.
Mr Tannous is awaiting a decision on the matter by the Court of Cassation, which has no time limit to come to a decision.
“Filing a case against a judicial request during a preliminary investigation is unprecedented,” Mr Tannous told The National.
He had sought information on accounts belonging to Mr Salameh’s brother, but banks say there are differing interpretations of laws that govern the conditions allowing banking secrecy to be lifted.
Legal Agenda, a non-government organisation in Beirut, said the lawsuit was yet another attempt to intimidate judges trying to hold Lebanon’s ruling class to account.
The UN Special Rapporteur accused officials of “evading accountability” during a visit to Lebanon last week.
“The judge is faced with lawsuits because he suspects influential people, just like in the investigation into the Beirut port blast,” said Ghida Frangieh, a member of Legal Agenda.
The elites are “buying time, crippling the judiciary” and sending a warning to judicial officials not to come after them, she said.
Mr Salameh’s wealth is under investigation in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Swiss investigators suspect Mr Salameh of embezzling $330 million from the central bank between 2002 and 2015 through payments to Forry Associates, a company registered managed by his brother, Raja.
Swiss authorities believe $200m may have re-entered the Lebanese banking system and was used in part by Mr Salameh and his associates to purchase property in Europe.
Last month, Mr Tannous asked Banque Audi, BankMed, Banque Misr Liban and Credit Libanais for details of accounts belonging to Raja. But the investigation was suspended after lawyer and former minister Rashid Derbas, acting on behalf of BankMed, filed a lawsuit against Mr Tannous.
BankMed and Bank Audi told The National that it was essential to clarify the interpretation of banking secrecy laws.
On Friday, Mr Salameh said he submitted an audit of his accounts to Prime Minister Najib Mikati “to refute all we hear and read, all the rumours” about his wealth.
But financial experts say the audit was an “agreed-upon procedures engagement” that means he can hand over only the information he wants to.