Lebanon's former central bank governor Riad Salameh arrested over embezzlement allegations

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Lebanon’s former central bank governor, Riad Salameh, was arrested following an investigation into allegations of embezzlement, Lebanese judicial sources stated.

The arrest follows sanctions imposed by the US, Canada, and the UK on Salameh and his family for corruption, including freezing their assets in these countries.

AFP cited Lebanese judicial sources stating, “Salameh was detained after a three-hour interrogation by the Public Prosecutor, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, over allegations of embezzling over $40 million from the Lebanese central bank.” This is the first time Salameh has faced court since his term as governor ended on July 31, 2023.

Salameh has been under investigation for the past three years, with local and European probes suspecting he illegally amassed assets and misused public funds during his tenure, including transferring money abroad and engaging in “illicit enrichment.”

Last year, French and German authorities issued arrest warrants for Salameh, which were circulated via Interpol. In response, Lebanese authorities banned him from traveling and confiscated his Lebanese and French passports.

However, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office lifted the arrest warrant in June, citing that Salameh was no longer in office, although the investigation continues.

While the French arrest warrant remains valid, Lebanon does not extradite its citizens for foreign trials. Salameh has consistently denied the charges, attributing them to "fabricated data" and "political motives." Despite ongoing investigations, he remained in office until the end of his term, benefitting from significant political protection.

Salameh, 74, served as Lebanon's central bank governor from 1993 to 2023, one of the longest tenures globally for central bank governors, steering Lebanon’s financial policies following the civil war (1975-1990).

However, amid an unprecedented economic collapse since 2019, he and the governing authorities are blamed for failing to manage the country’s crises.

Political figures, analysts, and citizens in Lebanon hold Salameh responsible for the collapse of the national currency, sharply criticizing his monetary policies for accumulating debt and accelerating the crisis. Salameh has repeatedly defended himself, asserting that the central bank "financed the state but did not spend the money."