A Lebanese prosecutor will question central bank chief Riad Salameh on Aug. 5 on suspicions of embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion, a senior judicial source told Reuters on Monday.
“He has not been charged until now but things could escalate,” the source said.
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is already under investigation in Switzerland on charges related to embezzlement and probes are under way or being planned in several other European countries.
Salameh did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment but he has dismissed previous corruption allegations against him as a smear campaign.
Lebanon’s public prosecutor launched an investigation into Salameh in April after a Swiss legal request alleged that more than $300 million had been embezzled from the bank through a company owned by his brother.
Lebanon’s crippled banking system is at the heart of its financial crisis that erupted in late 2019. Banks have since blocked transfers abroad and cut access to deposits as dollars grew scarce.
