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Lebanese prosecutor summons central bank chief following Interpol warrant over corruption charges

Published:Monday | May 22, 2023 | 2:57 PM
Riad Salameh, Lebanon's Central Bank governor, smiles during a press conference in Beirut on November 11, 2019. Salameh did not appear before French prosecutors for questioning in Paris, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in an ongoing European probe into alleged money laundering and illicit enrichment. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's public prosecutor Monday summoned the country's embattled central bank governor for questioning following an international arrest warrant issued against him in France over corruption charges, judicial officials said.

Riad Salameh is to answer the summons later this week, although no specific date was given.

France, Germany and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over myriad alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million.

A French investigative judge on May 16 issued an international arrest warrant, or Interpol red notice, for the 72-year-old Salameh after he failed to show up in Paris for questioning.

Officials in Beirut said that Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat will formally ask France to hand over the governor's case files to decide on future measures against Salameh.

Asked whether it is possible to hand the former governor over to France, the officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity — said Lebanon does not hand its citizens to foreign countries and the case will be overseen in Lebanon.

They added that once Oueidat receives the case files from France, he will decide whether Salameh should face justice in Lebanon or elsewhere.

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