BEIRUT — The French judiciary issued on Tuesday an international arrest warrant against Lebanon’s central bank governor, a source close to the case told Agence France Presses (AFP), after he failed to show up at a hearing in Paris, where French prosecutors were planning to present fraud and money laundering charges against him.
Riad Salameh, 72 years old, is currently being probed by Lebanese authorities and European countries including Switzerland over alleged money laundering. A delegation of European investigators has visited Beirut three times in the past months to question the governor and his associates who are suspected of embezzling more than $300 million in money transfers to an obscure offshore company between 2002 and 2015.
Salameh, who maintains his innocence, condemned the French judge’s decision, saying it violates the most basic laws.
“The French investigation violated a fundamental principle related to the confidentiality of investigations,” he said in a statement, adding that he will appeal the decision.
