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He said shots suddenly hit the back of the truck, striking Abdel Jabbar. Hafeth Abdel Jabbar said that when he arrived, he found his son’s lifeless body in the pickup, amid shattered glass and blood stains. They jumped in the family truck and headed out, he said, but realized they'd forgotten charcoal. Later Tuesday, investigators took the truck, Abdel Jabbar said. Also Tuesday, Abdel Jabbar said, he accompanied Salameh to provide witness testimony to Israeli investigators.

Persons: Mohammed Salameh's, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, “, ” Salameh, Abdel Jabbar, Salameh —, Abdel Jabbar's, Hafeth, Mazra’a, Sharquiya —, Salameh, Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, —, wasn't, ” Hafeth, Abdel Jabbar family's, Tawfic, Yesh Din, Rami, Mona, Joe Biden's, ” Mona Abdel Jabbar, ” Organizations: West Bank, Associated Press, Bank, Police, AP, U.S, West Locations: American, Louisiana, Al, Israel, Ramallah, Mona, Gretna , Louisiana, West Bank

☆ Lebanon's central bank chief steps down — and many blame him for the country's economic collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Emma Graham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Riad Salameh's tenure as governor of Lebanon's central bank on Monday came to an end after 30 years, with many sharply critical of the legacy he now leaves behind. Lebanon has failed to find an official successor to Salameh, who has been governor of central bank since 1993 and has worked under 12 prime ministers and recurring political instability. Wassim Mansouri, the deputy governor of the central bank, told reporters that he will take the role on an interim basis. Lebanon's Rafik Hariri first became prime minister in 1992 and tapped Salameh to rebuild the country's post-war economy and banking sector. In 2022, the World Bank blamed the country's political elite for a "Ponzi Finance" scheme, saying the depression was "deliberate in the making over the past 30 years."

Persons: Riad, Nasser Saidi, CNBC's Dan Murphy, Salameh, Mansouri, Lebanon's Rafik Hariri Organizations: Liban, CNBC, World Bank Locations: Lebanon's, Banque, Lebanon

☆ Lebanon's central bank chief leaves behind a 'terrible legacy,' says former minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailLebanon's central bank chief leaves behind a 'terrible legacy,' says former ministerNasser Saidi, who served as minister of economy and trade and minister of industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000, discusses the end of Riad Salameh's term as governor of Lebanon's central bank. Salameh faces corruption charges.

Persons: Nasser Saidi Locations: Lebanon, Lebanon's

CENTRAL BANK 'SHATTERED'It has marked a dramatic reversal for a man once seen as a possible president. After taking the helm of the central bank, Salameh built a reputation as a competent steward of the financial system. The central bank, known as Banque du Liban (BDL), has always said the operations were legal. Defending his record on Wednesday, Salameh said the central bank had contributed to "establishing economic stability and development" during 27 years of his tenure. "Neither directly nor indirectly did any money from the Central Bank go to Forry," Salameh said in Wednesday's interview.

Persons: Riad Salameh, Salameh, LBCI, Nasser Saidi, Raja, Salameh's, Marianne Howayek, Howayek, Friederike Heine, Tom Perry, Toby Chopra Organizations: Reuters, Banque du Liban, Forry Associates, Central Bank, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanese, Lebanon, Banque, Salameh, France, Germany

☆ Lebanon PM will not extend central bank governor's mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT, July 10 (Reuters) - Lebanon's caretaker premier, Najib Mikati, will not extend the term of central bank Governor Riad Salameh when it ends later this month, the prime minister's office said on Monday. One of Lebanon's four vice governors told Reuters that all four were considering quitting together if no successor is named, raising the possibility of a leaderless central bank amid a deep financial crisis. Mikati's deputy, Saade Chami, told Reuters last week that such a threat was "dangerous" and that the vice governors should "assume their responsibility in case this appointment is not possible." Central bank governors are typically appointed by the president, but parliament has been unable to elect a president to follow Michel Aoun, whose term ended in late October. The central bank governor, who was once a regular at banking conferences and high-end restaurants, is now rarely seen in public except for occasional media interviews.

Persons: Najib Mikati, Riad Salameh, Salameh, Saade Chami, Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri, Berri, Mikati, Maya Gebeily, Mark Heinrich, Leslie Adler Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Central

☆ Lebanon’s central bank boss urged to resign after French arrest warrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Lebanon's deputy PM says Salameh should quitCentral bank head under investigation for fraudFrench prosecutors issue arrest warrantBEIRUT, May 18 (Reuters) - Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh al-Shami called on Thursday for Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to resign following France’s issuing of an arrest warrant against him as part of a fraud investigation. He plans to appeal against the French warrant, which he told Al-Hadath violated principles of a Lebanese-French agreement without giving more details. A Lebanese judge overseeing a local case against Salameh has rejected his lawyers' defence arguments, clearing the way for a June 15 hearing, a senior judicial source told Reuters. The judicial source told Reuters a new hearing date for Raja Salameh had also been set for June 15. French prosecutors' warrant for Riad Salameh, issued on Tuesday, was the first from any of the foreign probes into him.

☆ French prosecutors accuse Lebanon central bank chief of hiding fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT/PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) - French prosecutors have told Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh they plan to press preliminary fraud and money laundering charges against him, partly based on allegedly forged bank statements used to conceal his wealth, according to French court documents seen by Reuters. During that hearing, French prosecutors intend to press the preliminary charges and formally name him a suspect. As part of his response to accusations, Salameh sent French prosecutors a 65-page memo supplied by Marwan Kheireddine, the chairman of Lebanon's AM Bank. But according to the French court documents seen by Reuters, French investigators have reached the conclusion the bank statements were fake. Salameh "used fake records of bank accounts at AM Bank… provided by Marwan Kheireddine, to justify in a deceitful manner the origin of his properties or revenues," French prosecutors say in the court documents.

The Lebanese bank did not respond to a message seeking comment. Bank statements seen by Reuters show how the Salameh accounts at AM Bank ballooned from $15 million in 1993 to more than $150 million by 2019. Lebanese prosecutors suspect the accounts, from which regular cash withdrawals were made, were used to conceal money laundering activity, a Lebanese judicial source said on Saturday. According to the lawyer, French prosecutors have summoned his client with a view of naming him a formal suspect. If French prosecutors suspected Salameh of wrongdoing, they could not hear him as a witness, Sur said.

☆ European investigators to revisit Lebanon in central banker fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 5 (Reuters) - European investigators will return to Beirut in April to question two key people who have been charged in Lebanon in a case involving alleged fraud by Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh, two sources with direct knowledge of the probe told Reuters. Lebanon and at least five European countries are investigating whether Salameh and his brother Raja Salameh took more than $300 million from the central bank between 2002 and 2015. The three have been charged in Lebanon with embezzlement, illicit enrichment and money laundering in two separate cases but have not been detained. The European investigators are due to arrive in Beirut on April 24. The governor enjoyed strong backing from Lebanese elites in his three decades as central bank chief, during which the central bank financed a state rife with corruption and enforced policies that earned commercial banks massive profits.

☆ Swiss regulator investigates 12 banks in Lebanese central banker corruption case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial regulator has investigated 12 banks and launched enforcement proceedings against two of them in relation to corruption charges against longtime central banker Riad Salameh, it said on Monday. Lebanese authorities charged Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants on Thursday with money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment after months of delay in the high-profile case. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) on Monday said it has investigated 12 banks in relation to allegations of money laundering linked to the case. FINMA declined to comment on the nature of the enforcement proceedings in this case, or the banks involved. The Salameh brothers are alleged to have transferred $330 million to Swiss accounts via the offshore company Forry Associates, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported.

The charges come in the waning months of Salameh's latest term as governor, a position he has held for three decades and for which he was often celebrated - until 2019, when Lebanon's economy began to unravel. In comments to Reuters on Thursday, Salameh said the charges were "not an indictment" and pledged to abide by the judicial procedures. The governor has dismissed accusations of illicit enrichment as part of an effort to scapegoat him for Lebanon's financial collapse. TWO INTERPRETATIONSSalameh was charged last year over illicit enrichment in a case related to the purchase and rental of Paris apartments, including some to Lebanon's central bank. Oueidat referred the case - which included Salameh and a number of unidentified associates - to a Beirut prosecutor to file charges including illicit enrichment, embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion.

[1/5] Displaced Syrians who lost their homes during the earthquake set up tents in a school yard, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in rebel-held town of Harem, Syria February 13, 2023. Now his home there is gone too, destroyed in another catastrophe, this time made by nature rather than man. The quake killed at least 4,400 people in Syria's northwest, leaving millions needing aid, according to the United Nations. Firewood lies stacked in a pile beside newly-hoisted tents while children play, taking turns sliding down a stone slope. The setup is meant to be temporary, but in this part of Syria many have lived this way for years.

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