US, UK, And Canada Sanction Lebanon’s Former Central Bank Governor Over Corruption Allegations

According to the US Treasury Department, the BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada imposed sanctions on Lebanon’s beleaguered former central bank governor and a handful of close relatives and friends on Thursday.

Riad Salameh, 73, left office on July 31 amid an investigation and criticism of his country’s unprecedented economic disaster.

Salameh and his friends are being investigated in France, Germany, and Luxembourg for alleged financial crimes such as unlawful enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. Paris and Berlin obtained Interpol arrest warrants for Salameh in May, despite Lebanon not extraditing its people.

“Salameh abused his position of power, most likely in violation of Lebanese law, to enrich himself and his associates by funnelling hundreds of millions of dollars through layered shell companies to invest in European real estate,” according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.

According to the statement, the United States coordinated the penalties with the United Kingdom and Canada, and assets associated with Salameh will be frozen. Salameh’s son Nady, brother Raja, close associate Marianne Hoayek, and “former partner” Anna Kosakova were also sanctioned by the US. The identical list of people was sanctioned in the United Kingdom except for Nady Salameh, while Canada sanctioned only Salameh, his brother, and Howayek.

On numerous occasions, Salameh has refuted claims of corruption, embezzlement, and unlawful gain. He claims his fortune results from inherited assets, investments, and his prior job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.

The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada imposed sanctions on Lebanon’s former central bank governor.

Salameh’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment on the punishment.

According to US officials, Salameh reportedly concealed his identity through Panama shell companies and a trust in Luxembourg in a plan in which he purchased shares in a company for which his son Nady worked as an investment advisor. He subsequently sold those shares to a Lebanese bank authorized by the Central Bank, which the US Treasury described as a conflict of interest and presumably violating a Lebanese rule prohibiting central bank personnel from benefitting from private firms.

Raja has been accused of assisting his brother’s fraud using Forry Associates Ltd, a brokerage firm he owns that the US Treasury described as a shell corporation in the Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, Howayek was accused of moving hundreds of millions of dollars to the Salamehs from her bank account, which was “far more” than her central bank salary could account for.

Nady Salameh was sanctioned as “the publicly registered officer” of Luxembourg-registered firms that purchased tens of millions of dollars in high-end real estate through subsidiary companies in Belgium and Germany.

The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada imposed sanctions on Lebanon’s former central bank governor.

Kosakova, who lives in France, was accused of using Forry funds to buy expensive properties in Paris, including residences in high-end neighborhoods and an office building on the touristy Champs-Elysées avenue for the central bank’s “continuity of operations” center.

Salameh is being probed in Lebanon as well. Soon after receiving the Interpol warnings, the Lebanese judiciary confiscated his passport and imposed a travel ban.

Salameh has criticized the European investigation, claiming it is part of a media and political attempt to frame him.

Salameh once praised as Lebanon’s financial stability protector, has been among the authorities most accused of actions that contributed to the country’s economic catastrophe, which has devastated the value of the Lebanese pound against the US dollar by nearly 90% and generated triple-digit inflation.

Lebanon has yet to nominate a new central bank governor, but Wassim Mansouri, a vice governor, has been named acting governor. The crisis-stricken country has been without a president for nearly a year and is governed by a caretaker Cabinet with limited powers.

“The only way to put Lebanon on a path to much-needed economic recovery is for its leaders to stamp out corruption and implement real reforms.” Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the UK’s minister of state for the Middle East, stated in a statement issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office announcing the penalties.

SOURCE – (AP)