Lebanon judge orders warrant of ex-central bank boss Salameh: judicial official

A Lebanese judge on Monday issued a formal arrest warrant for former central bank governor Riad Salameh, days after he was taken into custody over alleged embezzlement, a judicial official said.
The investigating judge finished questioning Salameh and “issued an arrest warrant against him,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
Salameh ran the central bank for three decades until July 2023.
If the prosecution continues, it would mark a rare case of a serving or retired senior Lebanese official facing accountability in a system which critics say has long shielded the elite.
Salameh was long feted as a financial wizard in Lebanon but left office with his reputation shredded by corruption charges at home and abroad and the catastrophic collapse of Lebanon’s financial system in 2019.
Salameh’s media office has said he will not comment publicly on the case, in line with the law. It said in a statement he had cooperated in the past with more than 20 criminal probes in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and was cooperating with the investigation after his detention.
Salameh has denied previous corruption charges.