Global site navigation

'Embezzled' Lebanese cash in Swiss banks: media report
Business and Economy

'Embezzled' Lebanese cash in Swiss banks: media report

by  AFP 2 min read
Salameh, 72, faces investigations related to suspicions of money laundering and illicit enrichment in Lebanon
Salameh, 72, faces investigations related to suspicions of money laundering and illicit enrichment in Lebanon. Photo: Joseph EID / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoy reading our stories? Join YEN.com.gh's Telegram channel for more!

Banks in Switzerland are holding a substantial amount of the millions of dollars Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh is accused of embezzling, Swiss media reported on Sunday.

Salameh, 72, faces investigations related to suspicions of money laundering and illicit enrichment in Lebanon and abroad after he amassed a fortune in the country mired in financial crisis.

A Lebanese judge on Thursday filed new charges against Salameh, his brother Raja and his former assistant Marianne Hoayek for embezzlement of public funds and money laundering.

Salameh categorically denies all accusations against him and has rarely appeared before the judiciary, despite numerous complaints, summonses, investigations and a travel ban issued against him a year ago.

Twelve Swiss banks have received a large part of the money he is alleged to have embezzled, estimated at up to $500 million, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.

Read also

World's last Meccano factory to close next year in France

The Swiss weekly said $250 million was left on Raja Salameh's personal account with HSBC's subsidiary in Geneva.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Other amounts ended up with UBS, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, EFG and Pictet, with the transactions carried out using an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands, the report added.

"Considerable sums" were then allegedly used to buy real estate assets in several European countries.

SonntagsZeitung said some of the funds have already been frozen, but federal prosecutors have not revealed how much.

Switzerland's federal market regulator FINMA has been carrying out preliminary investigations into 12 Swiss banks "for months", it reported.

A spokesman told the weekly that legal proceedings had been started against two banks in the "Lebanese context", but their names were not revealed.

Read also

French news channel sacks anchor after disinformation probe

Lebanon opened an investigation into Salameh's assets in 2021, after a request for assistance from Switzerland's public prosecutor probing more than $300 million in fund movements by the governor and his brother.

Riad Salameh has headed Lebanon's central bank since 1993.

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.

Hot: