Lebanon’s Ex-Top Central Banker Remains in Custody Over Graft Charges
- Salameh charged this week over range of financial crimes
- Ex-governor’s policies widely blamed for economic collapse
Riad Salameh in 2019.
Photographer: Hasan Shaaban/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Lebanon’s former central bank governor is spending a third day in custody after being charged over corruption allegations, a case that’s shocked a population unused to the prosecution of senior officials linked to the country’s economic collapse.
The state prosecutor detained Riad Salameh at a police station in Beirut after summoning him for questioning on Tuesday. He was then charged by the financial prosecutor with embezzling public funds, forgery, illicit enrichment and money laundering, an official in the Lebanese judiciary said, preferring to remain anonymous as the information is not public.