Raja Salameh Questioned by Financial Attorney General

Raja Salameh, the detained brother of Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, was questioned Tuesday by Financial Attorney General Judge Jean Tannous over the file of the brokerage firm that he owns, Forry Associates Ltd, al-Jadeed TV said.

The TV network added that Salameh was not interrogated by Mount Lebanon First Examining Magistrate Nicolas Mansour due to the Covid-19 infection of a judicial clerk at Mt. Lebanon’s investigations department.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun had on Monday filed charges against Riad and Raja Salameh, accusing them of illicit enrichment and money laundering.

She also filed charges against Ukrainian national Anna Kosakova for interfering in the alleged offenses.

Al-Jadeed TV said charges were also filed against Forry Associates Ltd, which is owned by Raja Salameh and suspected of having laundered money for his brother.

The central bank governor had again failed to appear before Judge Aoun on Monday.

Speaking to Reuters in the wake of the charges, Riad Salameh noted that he had asked an international firm to carry out an audit which showed that no public funds were a source of his wealth, denying the illicit enrichment charges.

Judge Aoun had earlier in the day frozen all the real estate properties of Raja Salameh.

She told The Associated Press that the Salameh brothers and the Ukrainian woman had formed three illusive companies in France to buy property there. Aoun said last week that Riad Salameh had used his brother to buy real-estate in France worth nearly $12 million.

Kosakova, who lives in France, reportedly has a daughter from the central bank governor. Kosakova also jointly owns a company with Raja Salameh.

Judge Aoun is investigating whether a number of residential apartments in Paris belong to Riad Salemeh, according to a judicial source. His brother had previously claimed the flats belong to the central bank, the source added.

The suit against the Salamehs was filed by a group of lawyers who accuse the governor of corruption.

In January, Aoun imposed a travel ban and froze some of the assets of the 71-year-old governor who is also being investigated in several European nations, including Switzerland and France, for potential money laundering and embezzlement.

Riad Salameh had steered Lebanese finances since 1993, through post-war recovery and bouts of unrest. Once praised as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, he has drawn increasing scrutiny since the small country's economic meltdown began in late 2019.