Judge Aoun Vows to 'Bring Salameh to Justice' as State Security Raids His Houses

Mount Lebanon Attorney General Judge Ghada Aoun on Tuesday pledged that she "will continue to pursue Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh until he is brought to justice," after State Security agents raided his residences in Safra and Rabieh and the bank's headquarters in Beirut without managing to find him.

The raids were aimed at enforcing a subpoena issued against Salameh by Judge Aoun.

A session for Salameh’s interrogation had been scheduled for today, Tuesday. He failed to show up. Judge Aoun later kept the subpoena in effect.

Al-Jadeed said Salameh’s guards in each of Safra and Rabieh initially tried to prevent the State Security agents from entering the properties before letting them in after insistence.

The judge had issued the subpoena against Salameh on February 1 after he failed to show up for a third interrogation session in the lawsuit filed by the People Want to Reform the System group.

The judge has recently issued a travel ban and an assets freeze against Salameh.

The lawsuit accuses the governor of "illicit enrichment, money laundering and squandering public funds on personal benefits."

Salameh, one of the world's longest-serving central bank governors, is also facing judicial investigations in France, Switzerland and other European countries on suspicion of money laundering and illicit enrichment, among other allegations.

Salameh has recently dismissed the cases against him as unfounded and lacking in evidence, claiming they were opened based on complaints filed by Lebanese citizens "for reasons that could be political... or tied to certain interests."

He said that a top-tier financial audit firm had scrutinized his accounts at his request and presented him with a report that he then submitted to officials and judges.

"I am ready to cooperate with all investigations," he said, claiming they were based on "fabricated evidence" that made it seem as though he "took all of Lebanon's money and pocketed it."