The ministry said in a statement that “Salama’s corrupt and illegal activities contributed to the collapse of the state of law in Lebanon,” noting that it had imposed these sanctions in coordination with Britain and Canada.
Salama, who assumed the governorship of the Lebanese Central Bank for 30 years, is being prosecuted in Europe and Lebanon on charges of embezzling funds, at a time when Lebanon is suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
And the US Treasury confirmed in its statement that Riad Salameh “misused his position in power, likely in violation of Lebanese law, to enrich himself and his partners, by transferring hundreds of millions of dollars through shell companies to invest in the European real estate sector.”
Penalty details
It includes US, British and Canadian sanctions, in addition to the safety of four people close to him.
The US sanctions provide for the freezing of all assets owned by these five punishers in the United States, and they also prevent all US companies and US citizens from conducting any business dealings with them.
And Salama (73 years), who has held his position since 1993, is considered one of the longest-serving central bank governors in the world.
In addition to his Lebanese nationality, Salameh holds French nationality, and two arrest warrants have been issued against him by France and Germany.
The French judiciary issued decisions to confiscate real estate and banking assets owned by Salameh, with an estimated total value of tens of millions of euros.
And in 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg froze assets worth 120 million euros suspected of belonging to Salameh.
On the other hand, Salameh, who won regional and international awards and accolades of honor in appreciation of his efforts in his position, confirms that he accumulated his wealth from his previous work for two decades in the global financial institution, Merrill Lynch, and from investments in several fields, apart from his work at the head of the governorship of the Banque du Liban.
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2023-08-10 13:04:14
