Lebanon Judge Freezes Assets of Five Banks and Members of Their Boards

A general view shows the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon July 9, 2018. (Reuters)
A general view shows the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon July 9, 2018. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Judge Freezes Assets of Five Banks and Members of Their Boards

A general view shows the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon July 9, 2018. (Reuters)
A general view shows the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon July 9, 2018. (Reuters)

A Lebanese judge froze the assets of five top banks and members of their boards while she investigates transactions they undertook with the country's central bank, a judicial document showed on Monday.

The asset freeze against Bank of Beirut, Bank Audi, SGBL, Blom Bank and Bankmed applies to properties, vehicles and shares in companies owned by the banks or the members of their boards.

She has not charged any of the parties mentioned with any crime.

Lebanon's banks association in statement said the decision by Judge Ghada Aoun was "illegal" and would further destabilize the country's banking system, already crippled by a financial meltdown that has seen most depositors locked out of their hard currency accounts.

Raya Hassan, chairman of the board of Bankmed, declined to comment, as did Blom Bank chairman Saad Azhari and a spokesperson for Bank Audi.

Bank of Beirut and SGBL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Aoun on Thursday issued travel bans against the heads of the boards of the five Lebanese banks as a precautionary measure while she carried out her probe, she told Reuters.



Israel Warns People to Evacuate from More Areas in East, South Lebanon

Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
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Israel Warns People to Evacuate from More Areas in East, South Lebanon

Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)

The Israeli military warned people to evacuate from more areas of the eastern city of Baalbek and south Lebanon, including a built-up Palestinian refugee camp.

Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least ten people in different parts of the country on Thursday.

The Rashidiyeh refugee camp near the port city of Tyre is one of several dating back to the 1948 Mideast war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out of what is now Israel.

Israel invaded Lebanon at the start of October, after nearly a year of trading fire with Hezbollah. The group began firing rockets, missiles and drones on northern Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Iran backs both groups.

Israel has warned people to evacuate from large areas of the country, including major cities in the south and east. Over a million people have already fled their homes.

Israeli strikes killed seven people in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News agency. Another strike killed a man on a motorcycle on the coastal highway between Tyre and Sidon.

The news agency also reported a strike on a car on a main highway running through the mountains outside the capital, Beirut. It said the strike in Araya closed the highway, diverting traffic through nearby villages.

Two people were killed in the attack, media reports said.