Interrogating the governor of the Banque du Liban on Monday for the crime of labor negligence and breach of trust

Yesterday, a Lebanese judge set a date for the questioning of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh and others, for the crime of negligence at work, breach of trust and violation of an administrative decision.
The Lebanese Media Agency stated today (Tuesday) that the first investigating judge in Mount Lebanon, Nicolas Mansour, scheduled a session on February 8 to question the Governor of Banque du Liban and others for the crime of negligence at work, breach of trust and violation of an administrative decision.
The appeal prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, had claimed against Salameh, Maya Dabbagh, director of the Banking Control Commission, owner of a dollar import company and money changer, and referred the file to Judge Mansour, who, after After reviewing the file, schedule a debriefing session for the referrals next week.
Salameh, who for years had been considered the godfather of the pound’s stability, faces mounting pressure. Political parties in Lebanon blame him for the collapse of the national currency and harshly criticize the monetary policies he adopted for accumulating debt. However, Salameh has repeatedly defended himself, saying that the central bank “financed the state but did not spend the money,” according to Agence France-Presse.
Last week, the Lebanese judiciary received a letter from the Swiss judiciary, requesting assistance in a criminal investigation it is conducting regarding financial transfers from Lebanon.
According to a Lebanese judicial source, the correspondence involved transfers worth 400 million dollars, belonging to Salama, his brother, his aid and institutions affiliated with the Central Bank.
However, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office clarified that his request is linked to “an investigation into money laundering linked to a possible embezzlement of funds from the Central Bank of Lebanon” without mentioning the names of the suspects.
For his part, Salameh reiterated that “no transfer was collected from the accounts of the Banque du Liban or from its budgets.”
Analysts and observers accuse political leaders and officials, including Salama, of transferring huge sums of money from their accounts abroad, following unprecedented popular demonstrations that began in October 2019 against the political class, despite the imposition of strict restrictions banks that prevent financial transfers abroad.