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Paris Court to Debate French Seizures of Salameh Assets

Riad Salameh. (AP)
Riad Salameh. (AP)
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Paris Court to Debate French Seizures of Salameh Assets

Riad Salameh. (AP)
Riad Salameh. (AP)

AThe Paris Court of Appeal will debate on Tuesday the validity of a large number of seizures made on the real estate and banking assets in Europe of the governor of Lebanon's central bank, Riad Salameh, who is suspected of having acquired them through massive misappropriation of Lebanese public funds.

Interviewed in Beirut in mid-March by several European judges investigating him, including French investigating judge Aude Buresi, Riad Salameh, 72, maintained his innocence, as he has done since the opening of the case, AFP reported.

Salameh repeatedly denies the charges against him, considering that they are part of a political and media campaign to “distort” his image.

He confirms that he made his wealth from his work for two decades at Merrill Lynch and from investments in several fields.

At the end of March 2022, France, Germany, and Luxembourg announced the freezing of 120 million euros of Lebanese assets linked to Salameh and four other people including his brother Raja Salameh for charges of money laundry and embezzlement of more than $330 million and 5 million euro of public funds between 2002 and 2021.

The Parisian investigating chamber will debate on Tuesday the requests made by the Salameh camp for the restitution of more than a dozen different seizures made by France, including apartments in the 16th arrondissement of Paris and on the Champs-Elysées, in addition to the UK, and Belgium, as well as banking accounts and others.

The decision on these assets, the value of which is in the tens of millions of euros, should be known within a few weeks.

The Public Prosecutor's Office has asked for confirmation of the seizures, expressing concern that, in the event of a possible judicial conviction, France would be deprived of "any prospect of confiscation" of the assets.

The stakes are high, says a source close to the case: "To hit [Riad Salameh] in the wallet is the main concrete action possible in this case," since Lebanon refuses to extradite its nationals and tries them on its soil if they are convicted abroad.

William Bourdon, lawyer for two civil parties, the NGO Sherpa and the Collectif des victimes des pratiques frauduleuses et criminelles au Liban (CPVCL), also asks for confirmation of these seizures, "based on very powerful evidence."

"The requests for release are as much a rearguard battle as a communication operation," Bourdon added.

The French judicial inquiry, the existence of which was revealed by AFP, has been running since July 2021, in parallel with other European and Lebanese investigations.

According to investigation documents of which AFP has been informed, the embezzlement scheme in question is based mainly on a company registered in the Virgin Islands, created in 2001 by the Mossack Fonseca firm, implicated in the Panama Papers.

The investigations focus on the link between Forry Associates Ltd and Banque du Liban.

Forry Associates Ltd, whose economic beneficiary is allegedly Raja Salameh, the governor's brother, was authorized by Banque du Liban, to trade Lebanese treasury bills and Eurobonds for a commission.

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Will Lebanon Finally Elect a President after a 2-year Vacuum?

A ballot box is displayed inside the parliament building, a day ahead of Lebanon's parliament's attempt to elect a new head of state in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A ballot box is displayed inside the parliament building, a day ahead of Lebanon's parliament's attempt to elect a new head of state in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Will Lebanon Finally Elect a President after a 2-year Vacuum?

A ballot box is displayed inside the parliament building, a day ahead of Lebanon's parliament's attempt to elect a new head of state in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A ballot box is displayed inside the parliament building, a day ahead of Lebanon's parliament's attempt to elect a new head of state in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon's parliament is set to convene Thursday to attempt to elect a head of state for the 13th time during a presidential vacuum that's lasted over two years. This time, analysts said, they might succeed.
The session comes weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and as Lebanon's leaders seek international assistance for reconstruction, The Associated Press said.
The primary contenders for the presidency include the Lebanese army's commander, Joseph Aoun, who is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia. The candidate previously supported by Hezbollah, Suleiman Franjieh, on Wednesday announced he was pulling out of the race and endorsed Aoun.
The Lebanese military has a key role in sustaining the ceasefire, as its forces are tasked with ensuring that Hezbollah pulls its fighters and weapons out of southern Lebanon.
Here's why the vacuum has dragged on for so long and what to expect Thursday:
Why has it taken so long to elect a president? Lebanon's fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement party was at the time the main Christian ally of the Shiite political party and Hezbollah, although their alliance has since fractured.
After Aoun's term ended in October 2022, Hezbollah backed Franjieh, leader of the Marada Movement, a political party with a strong influence in northern Lebanon. Frangieh also had close ties with former Syrian president Bashar Assad.
While Joseph Aoun — no relation to the former president — never officially announced his candidacy, he was widely understood to be the main rival to Franjieh. Meanwhile, political factions opposed to Hezbollah put forward a series of candidates.
The last presidential vote in parliament in June 2023 broke down after the bloc led by Hezbollah withdrew following the first round of voting, where Franjieh came in behind the opposition candidate, Jihad Azour. The withdrawal broke the quorum in the 128-member house.
Michael Young, a senior editor at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said the current election “has taken a long time simply because parliament, reflecting the reality of the country, is very divided, and actually did not respect the constitutional provisions to hold electoral session open until a president was elected.”
The situation was exacerbated because parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, used parliamentary rules “more as an instrument of blockage than an instrument of consensus,” lifting sessions whenever he “did not want a majority to develop around the candidacies he did not support,” Young said.
Imad Salamey, a political science professor at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, noted that “Lebanon’s dependence on foreign support means external agreements often determine presidential outcomes.”
During the current impasse, a five-member committee consisting of the United States, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has held a series of meetings aimed at negotiating an end to the presidential vacuum.
Who are the main contenders? — Army commander Joseph Aoun, 60, is widely seen as the frontrunner to become Lebanon’s next president, particularly since Franjieh's withdrawal.
Aoun was appointed to the current post in March 2017 and had been set to retire in January 2024, but his term was extended twice during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Aoun, who has kept a low profile and avoided media appearances, never formally announced his candidacy but is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, which provides significant financial support to the Lebanese army.
Lebanon’s constitution technically bars a sitting army chief from becoming president. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting or by a simple majority in the second round if there is no winner in the first round. But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
— Jihad Azour, who has been backed by factions opposed to Hezbollah, is a prominent economist who has served as the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund since 2017. As finance minister from 2005 to 2008, he led some reforms including modernizing the tax and customs systems.
— Elias al-Baysari is the acting head of Lebanon's General Security agency, which is responsible for border control and historically seen as close to Hezbollah. His career in national security began in 1986 when he joined the Lebanese army. His early roles included key positions within Beirut’s port security and the army’s intelligence division. In 2005, al-Baysari joined General Security. He also holds a doctorate in law.
What are the chances a president will be elected Thursday? The withdrawal of Franjieh likely means “the deal is done” and Aoun will likely be elected, Young said.
The dynamics have changed since the last failed parliamentary vote.
“Hezbollah is in a weaker position due to escalating tensions with Israel, challenges in Syria and domestic discontent,” Salamey said. “It now needs the protection of a functioning state to rebuild and attract international aid.”
According to Young, “Lebanon today is effectively under some sort of foreign trusteeship.”
Lebanon needs American support to “contain Israeli actions” and ensure that Israel withdraws its forces from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the ceasefire, he said, while Saudi Arabia is “the key to Gulf funding for Lebanon’s reconstruction, particularly of Shiite areas. Iran does not have the means to rebuild what was destroyed by Israel in the recent conflict.”