Judge Imad Qabalan has banned central bank governor Riad Salameh from travelling, after questioning him on Wednesday, days after Beirut received an Interpol Red Notice following a French arrest warrant.
Judge Imad Qabalan questioned Salameh and “decided to release him pending investigation, ban him from travelling, and confiscate his Lebanese and French passports”, a judicial official told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The central bank governor has been the target of a harsh political campaign associated with series of judicial investigations both at home and abroad on allegations of money laundering, fraud and illicit enrichment, which he denied again in front of judge Qabalan.
Qabalan asked the French judiciary to refer Salameh’s file to Beirut in order to “determine whether the Lebanese judiciary will prosecute him for the crimes he is accused of in France or not”, the official added.
Salameh “asked the judge to try him in Lebanon and not to extradite him to France”, the official said.
Also Wednesday, Germany notified Lebanon’s general prosecutor that it too had issued an arrest warrant for Salameh, the judicial official said, adding that Munich’s public prosecutor would submit the warrant to Interpol shortly.
Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and continues to serve as central bank governor. His mandate ends in July.
On the other hand, the lawyer representing Mr Salameh in France has filed an appeal with the French judiciary, seeking the withdrawal of the arrest warrant that led to the issuance of a red notice by Interpol.
