Two illegal money changers arrested in Baalbek

A patrol from the judicial police on Wednesday raided money changers in the markets of the city of Baalbek and arrested two individuals who were practicing illegal money exchange operations, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The development comes a few days after State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat sent a memo to Financial Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim asking him to “immediately” order the arrest of the money changers and speculators who are contributing to “the collapse of the national currency.”

Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab meanwhile tweeted that Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has informed caretaker PM Najib Mikati that “three money changers – one in Beirut, another in Sidon and a third in Tyre – are leading the dollar game and that they are yet to be interrogated.”

“Why haven’t then been questions? Are they protected?” Wahhab wondered, noting that the aforementioned money changers are “buying all the dollars that are being pumped” into the market.