Lebanon former central bank governor Riad Salameh arrested, judicial source says

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s former central bank governor, Riad Salameh, was arrested on Tuesday following a judicial hearing in the capital Beirut, a senior judicial source told Reuters.

Salameh has been charged in Lebanon with financial crimes including money-laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He has denied all wrongdoing. Neither he nor his lawyer immediately responded to Reuters attempts to reach them for comment on Tuesday.

The judicial source said that Salameh was arrested at Lebanon’s justice palace following a hearing about the central bank’s dealings with Optimum Invest, a Lebanese firm that offers income brokerage services, according to its website.

The source said that Optimum had dealt with Lebanon’s central bank to buy and sell treasury bonds and certificates of deposit in Lebanese pounds.

Optimum did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. An undated statement on its website said that a financial audit had found “no evidence of wrongdoing or illegality” in the company’s dealings with Lebanon’s central bank.

Salameh, 73, was Lebanon’s central bank governor for 30 years until July 2023. In his final months as governor, France and Germany issued arrest warrants for him on corruption charges.