Lebanon: Salameh has deposited 500 million dollars in Switzerland

Most of the half a billion US dollars allegedly accumulated illegally over the years by the disputed and multi-investigated governor of the Lebanese central bank, Riad Salameh, is deposited in the accounts of Swiss-based banks. This was reported this morning by the media of Beirut which resumed the results of an investigation conducted by the Swiss newspapers. According to journalistic reconstructions, 12 Swiss banks have over the years received a large part of the public money - around 500 million dollars - diverted by Salame since the early 2000s to Swiss banking institutions with the help of his brother Raja Salameh and a series of collaborators. The banks involved in the ongoing judicial investigation in Switzerland are HSBC, USB, Credit Suisse, Efg, Julius Baer, Pictet. The transactions took place on several occasions through checking accounts of an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Considerable sums were then used to buy real estate in various European countries, according to judicial sources cited by the Swiss media. Head of the Lebanese central bank for 30 years and considered by many to be the banker to the oligarchs in power in Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese civil war (1975-90), Salameh is under investigation in Switzerland, Lebanon and other European countries for financial wrongdoing committed since the early 2000s. In recent days a Lebanese judge has leveled new accusations against Salameh, his brother Raja and a collaborator of the governor of the Central Bank. For his part, Salameh continues to claim his innocence and to deny all accusations. His mandate will expire in May but the ruling political elite is considering the possibility of extending his mandate in the context of the financial default announced in Lebanon in 2020.