BEIRUT, March 28 (Reuters) – Eurojust, the European coordination body for the fight against organized crime, announced on Monday the seizure of around 120 million euros in assets of Lebanese origin in different European countries, including France. , and the prosecution in Germany specified that Riad Salamé, governor of the central bank of Lebanon, was among the suspects in this investigation.
Property and bank accounts linked to five people suspected of embezzling $330m (€300m) and €5m of public funds between 2002 and 2021 were seized in coordinated operations in France on Friday , in Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco and Belgium, Eurojust said in a statement without providing the identity of the suspects.
In an email, the Munich public prosecutor’s office says that this statement from Eurojust relates to investigations concerning Riad Salamé, whose fortune is under investigation in at least five European countries and who was indicted last week in Lebanon for illicit enrichment by Judge Ghada Aoun. nL5N2VO2CY
A Eurojust spokesperson declined to identify the suspects or provide further details of the investigation.
Asked by SMS about the freezing of assets announced by Eurojust and its possible involvement, Riad Salamé said he was not aware and inquired. In office for almost 30 years, the governor of Lebanon’s central bank has in the past dismissed the accusations against him.
A central bank spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Riad Salamé did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
Prosecutors in Switzerland suspect Riad Salamé of having embezzled around $330 million with his brother Raja, shows a letter, seen by Reuters, sent last year by Swiss judicial authorities to their Lebanese counterparts.
Investigations concerning Riad Salamé are also open in France, Germany, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
In its press release, Eurojust specifies that the seizures made last Friday relate in particular to two properties in Paris with a cumulative value of 16 million euros, several bank accounts in France (2.2 million euros) and in Monaco (46 million euros) or properties in Hamburg and Munich.
Despite these various investigations, Riad Salamé continues to benefit from the support of part of the Lebanese political class, in particular Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who invited him to take part in a council of ministers on Wednesday, a gesture widely interpreted as a public mark of support.
(Report Timour Azhari in Beirut, David Villars-Gauthier in Turkey and Christina Amann in Germany, written by Timour Azhari and Tom Perry, French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Nicolas Delame)