Lebanon prosecutor sends C. Bank money laundering case results to Swiss authorities
Lebanon’s public prosecutor sent preliminary findings to Swiss authorities, in response to their request for legal assistance in their investigation of money laundering tied to the Lebanese central bank, the state news agency reported on Thursday.
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The agency said prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat sent the information through diplomatic channels and asked in return to be provided with documents available to the Swiss investigators.
Oueidat will later also provide the Swiss with documents from the central bank and other banking entities, the agency said.
The Swiss attorney general’s office had said in January it requested legal assistance from Lebanon in investigating “aggravated money laundering” and possible embezzlement tied to the Lebanese central bank.
It did not say whether Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh was a suspect. Salameh has denied any wrongdoing and answered questions posed by the Lebanese prosecutor on Jan. 21.
Salameh has led Lebanon’s central bank since 1993. His role came under scrutiny after the country’s financial system collapsed in 2019, leading to a crash in the Lebanese pound and a sovereign default.
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