Lebanon, Europeans agree mechanism for questioning banking officials
Contacts between State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat and judicial authorities in France, Germany and Luxembourg have led to an agreement on a mechanism through which judicial delegations from the three countries will question banking officials in Beirut in a money laundering case related to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, media reports said.
The Oueidat-European talks have led to “introducing significant modifications to the mission of the European delegation,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Saturday.
The European teams are seeking to interrogate Salameh, Central Bank officials and the owners of major Lebanese banks, the daily said.
The investigation is aimed at determining the sources of Salameh’s assets in European banks and monetary transactions that occurred from Lebanon over the past years.
A senior Lebanese judicial official told Asharq al-Awsat that “all the discrepancies between the Lebanese and European sides have been totally resolved and an agreement has been reached on unifying the measures and the investigations mechanism.”
“The two sides agreed that the interrogation sessions will be held at the main hall of the Court of Cassation at the Justice Palace in Beirut, in the presence of judges from the Lebanese public prosecution who will personally undertake the mission of interrogation and reciting the questions that the European judges will carry, in the presence of these (European) judges,” the official added.
Revealing that the first round of interrogations will kick off on Monday, the official said that 16 individuals, who do not include Salameh, will be questioned over a period of five days. “It will involve senior Central Bank officials and the directors of Lebanese banks,” the official added.
Oueidat had on Friday met at his office with delegations from the French and German embassies to discuss the preparations and the delegations also inspected the hall of the Court of Cassation in which the interrogations will take place.
Speaking to Asharq al-Awsat, judicial sources expressed their relief over the developments, stressing that “there will be cooperation with any foreign investigation into the financial files.”
