Judge Nicolas Mansour Issues Arrest Warrant against Raja Salameh

Judge Nicolas Mansour issued Thursday an arrest warrant against Raja Salameh, the brother of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, after questioning him.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun had ordered last week the detention of the businessman Raja Salameh, after questioning him for several hours.

The questioning was related to a lawsuit filed by an activist group.

The lawsuit accused Raja Salameh of suspicious contracts and money transfers to accounts outside Lebanon, it said.

The lawyers who had filed the suit said they will file an appeal, as they were not allowed to attend the interrogation session.

They considered the act to be illegal, while a legal expert told the MTV that the lawyers did not have the right to attend the session.

Aoun had accused Riad Salameh of illicit enrichment and money laundering, while his brother Raja, along with a Ukrainian national Anna Kosakova were accused for interfering in the alleged offenses.

The central bank governor failed to appear before Aoun, while his brother was detained last week, after being interrogated by Aoun.

After issuing the arrest warrant against raja, Judge Mansour scheduled a hearing session for Riad Salameh for next Thursday.

In January, Aoun had imposed a travel ban and froze some of the assets of the 71-year-old governor who is also being investigated in several European nations, including Switzerland and France, for potential money laundering and embezzlement.

Judge Aoun told The Associated Press that the Salameh brothers and the Ukrainian woman had formed three illusive companies in France to buy property there. Aoun said last week that Riad Salameh had used his brother to buy real-estate in France worth nearly $12 million.

Kosakova, who lives in France, reportedly has a daughter from Salameh. Kosakova also jointly owns a company with Raja Salameh.

Judge Aoun is investigating whether a number of residential apartments in Paris belong to Riad Salemeh, according to a judicial source. His brother had previously claimed the flats belong to the central bank, the source added.

Riad Salameh had steered Lebanese finances since 1993, through post-war recovery and bouts of unrest. Once praised as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, he has drawn increasing scrutiny since the small country's economic meltdown began in late 2019.