Lebanon's Ex-central Bank Chief to Remain Detained Amid Probe

Lebanese army and police officers stand near what is believed to be a convoy of former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh at the Justice Palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese army and police officers stand near what is believed to be a convoy of former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh at the Justice Palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
TT

Lebanon's Ex-central Bank Chief to Remain Detained Amid Probe

Lebanese army and police officers stand near what is believed to be a convoy of former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh at the Justice Palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese army and police officers stand near what is believed to be a convoy of former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh at the Justice Palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A judge ordered Lebanon's former central bank chief Riad Salameh to remain in detention amid a probe into alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure, including embezzlement of public funds, three judicial sources said.

Investigative judge Bilal Halawi took the decision after questioning Salameh for the first time since he was taken into custody last week on charges that state media said included embezzlement, forgery and illicit enrichment.

Halawi set another hearing for Thursday, one of the sources said.

Salameh's media office has said he would not comment publicly on the case, in line with the law. It said in a statement he had cooperated in the past with more than 20 criminal probes in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and was cooperating with the investigation after his detention.

Salameh has denied previous corruption charges.

If the prosecution continues, it would mark a rare case of a serving or retired senior Lebanese official facing accountability in a system which critics say has long shielded the elite.

A group of protesters shouted "Thief!" as a convoy they believed was transporting Salameh entered the justice ministry building. Some of them struck one of the vehicles with their hands.

Salameh was long feted as a financial wizard in Lebanon but left office with his reputation shredded by corruption charges at home and abroad and the catastrophic collapse of Lebanon's financial system in 2019.

MILLIONS

Judicial sources told Reuters last week Salameh was suspected of financial misconduct related to commissions worth more than $110 million in a scheme linked to Optimum Invest, a Lebanese firm that offers income brokerage services.

Investigators have zeroed in on more than $40 million in suspicious transactions linked to that scheme that made their way from an account at the central bank to an account belonging to Salameh, judicial sources said.

Optimum Invest has said it was assisting the judicial authorities in their investigation and providing them with all requested information, and that its dealings with the central bank were conducted in full compliance with the law.

The Lebanese authorities have not published the charges.

The charges brought against Salameh last week are separate from previous charges of financial crimes linked to Forry Associates, a company controlled by his brother, Raja. The brothers - who deny any wrongdoing - were accused of using Forry to divert $330 million in public funds through commissions.

Several European countries including France and Germany have been investigating whether tens of millions of dollars of the funds allegedly embezzled from the central bank were laundered in Europe.

Last year, French and German authorities issued warrants for his arrest. The Munich prosecutor's office said in June that German authorities have cancelled their arrest warrant for technical reasons but were continuing their probe and keeping Salameh's assets frozen.



Iranian Officials: Quds Force Chief Out of Contact since Beirut Strikes

FILE PHOTO:  Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
TT

Iranian Officials: Quds Force Chief Out of Contact since Beirut Strikes

FILE PHOTO:  Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony, in Tehran, Iran April 14, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran's Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who travelled to Lebanon after the killing last month of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, has not been heard from since strikes on Beirut late last week, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters.

One of the officials said Qaani was in Beirut's southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, during a strike on Thursday that was reported to have targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine but the official said he was not meeting Safieddine.

The official said Iran and Hezbollah had not been able to contact Qaani since then.

Israel has been hitting multiple targets in Dahiyeh as it pursues a campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

The second official also said Qaani had travelled to Lebanon after the killing of Nasrallah and the Iranian authorities had not been able to contact him since the strike against Safieddine, who was widely expected to be the next Hezbollah chief.

Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine.
The Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, oversees dealings with militias allied with Tehran across the Middle East, such as Hezbollah.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan was killed with Nasrallah in his bunker when it was hit on Sept. 27 by Israeli bombs.