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
20

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.



WHO: Medicine Critically Low Due to Gaza Aid Blockade

Palestinians gather at a damaged building, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia, in Gaza City, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
Palestinians gather at a damaged building, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia, in Gaza City, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
TT
20

WHO: Medicine Critically Low Due to Gaza Aid Blockade

Palestinians gather at a damaged building, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia, in Gaza City, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
Palestinians gather at a damaged building, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia, in Gaza City, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Medicine stocks are critically low due to the aid blockade in Gaza, making it hard to keep hospitals even partially operational, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

"We are critically low in our three warehouses, on antibiotics, IV fluids and blood bags," WHO official Rik Peeperkorn told reporters in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem.

The Israeli military on Friday issued an urgent warning to residents in several neighborhoods in northern Gaza, calling on them to evacuate immediately. Strikes earlier this week killed at least 23 people, health officials said, including eight women and eight children.

Since Israel ended an eight-week ceasefire last month, it said it will push further into Gaza until Hamas releases the hostages. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire collapsed, according to the United Nations.

Israel imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.