The accusation against the governor of the Banque du Liban on the mismanagement of the subsidized dollar

The appeal prosecutor of the Monte Líbano governorate, Judge Ghada Aoun, charged today (Thursday) the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, and a Central Bank official, for the crime of “negligence and dishonesty at work” in the process of managing the subsidized dollar, according to a source from the French Press Agency.
And on the impact of the continued economic collapse since 2019; The pound has lost around 80 per cent of its value against the dollar on the black market, while the official rate is still set at 1507 pounds, causing an insane rise in prices for imported materials, especially food.
In an attempt to reduce high prices in a country where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line, the Bank of Lebanon approved last May a mechanism by which the subsidized dollar would be delivered. That is, according to the exchange rate of 3900 lire, to support the import of basic foods and raw materials for their manufacture.
The judicial source said that Aoun had accused Salameh and the head of the Banking Supervision Committee, Maya Dabbagh, for the crime of “negligence and labor dishonesty”, as well as against Michel Maktaf, owner of a prominent company that imports dollars from abroad. and the cashier, Abd al-Rahman al-Fayed, for the crime of violating an administrative decision, and referred them all to the first investigating judge of Mount Lebanon, Judge Nicolas Mansour, for questioning. He explained that the allegation “is based on data that the subsidized dollar exchange process was not all in the specified direction.” That is, subsidies on the import of basic food products; Rather, “large sums of money were distributed to fortunate money changers, who made huge profits at the expense of supporting poor families.” He revealed that “the sums that entered the pockets of money changers and financial institutions exceeded 5 million dollars” at a time when Lebanon is under the weight of its worst economic crisis.
Faces of security; For years, he was considered the godfather of sterling stability, mounting pressure, and Lebanon’s political parties held him responsible for the collapse of the national currency and harshly criticized the monetary policies he adopted as he racked up debt. However, he repeatedly defended himself, saying that the Central Bank “financed the state, but did not spend the money.”
Last week, the Lebanese judiciary received a letter from the Swiss judiciary, requesting assistance in an ongoing criminal investigation into financial transfers from Lebanon.
According to a Lebanese judicial source, the correspondence referred to transfers of 400 million dollars belonging to Salama, his brother, his assistance and institutions affiliated to the “Central Bank”. Among them are “Middle East Airlines” and “Casino du Liban”.
However, the Federal Public Ministry in Switzerland clarified that his request is linked to “an investigation into money laundering related to possible embezzlement of funds from the (Central Bank)”, without mentioning the names of the suspects.
Salameh reiterated that “no transfers were made from the accounts of the Banque du Liban or their budgets.”
Analysts and observers accuse political leaders and officials, including Salameh, of transferring huge sums from their accounts abroad, following unprecedented popular demonstrations that began in October 2019 against the political class, despite the imposition of strict banking restrictions that they prevent financial transfers abroad.