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US officials, diplomats and other diplomatic and financial law enforcement officials are lobbying the Lebanese Central Bank as part of an international campaign to marginalize Iranian-backed Hezbollah, combat corruption, and ease the economic and political crises of the country.
According to the “Wall Street Journal”; Western officials have said that Washington and its allies have been calling for months for a criminal audit of the central bank transfers, as they believe it may reveal evidence of fraud, money laundering, corruption, and senior Lebanese officials’ relationships with Hezbollah.
Pressure on the central bank, including the threat of possible sanctions, according to Western officials, is a rare step that the United States tends to take with staunch rivals such as North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.
Officials said Washington and its allies are calling for criminal scrutiny, hoping to shed light on mysterious central bank operations that may reveal the links of senior Lebanese officials to Hezbollah.
However, efforts to carry out this audit suffered a setback this month when the company Alvarez & Marsal, in charge of conducting the audit, withdrew after confirming that it could not access central bank records.
The head of the Lebanese interim government, Hassan Diab, said after the Finance Ministry announced the withdrawal of “Alvarez & Marsal” from the audit on November 20, referring to unspecified parties in the country: “Today they thwarted the criminal audit “. “The wall of corruption is thick and too high for reform,” he said.
Diab said that suspending the audit is aimed at “preventing the Lebanese from knowing the true background of the disappearance of their deposits, the reasons for the financial collapse and the deliberate manipulation of the price of the national currency.
Current and former Western and Lebanese officials said that political and economic influencers in Lebanon have so far hampered international efforts to subject the central bank to a comprehensive review.
Officials said those obstructing the audit efforts include Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and other government officials with ties to Hezbollah, making them potential targets for sanctions by the United States and its allies.
Salameh had said a few months ago that he could not promise that the bank would provide all the information requested by criminal auditors “for its adherence to Lebanon’s strict bank secrecy laws.”
Salameh added that the bank has nothing to hide, and denies that the bank was in collusion with “Hezbollah” or had a role in facilitating corruption and money laundering.
He said the central bank has issued circulars and decisions to ensure that local banks comply with US laws, including sanctions.
Current and former officials in the United States and its allies say weak central bank supervision has helped reinforce the endemic corruption cited in a series of US sanctions.
The officials also added that the bank played a central role in financing the attacks carried out by Hezbollah against the United States and its allies.
Officials cited evidence, including bank records, showing their permission for known Hezbollah accounts in one of the Lebanese private banks to operate even after the United States requested their closure.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said last May that Salameh himself was aware of Hezbollah’s financial activities.
In public statements, Nasrallah added: “Go check and ask the money changers, banks and the governor (Banque du Liban). They know that we bring dollars to the country ”.
The Central Bank is reported to have been the target of many protests, including those that occurred early last month, when protesters attempted to raid its offices in Beirut after the Lebanese currency reached new lows.
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