Riad Salameh was the governor of the Lebanese central bank from 1993 to 2023, suspected of money laundering, forgery, embezzlement as well as other financial crimes. In late February 2024, German prosecutors in a Munich court added to the now 6 European countries investigating Riad and his brother Raja, as well as a Lebanese inquiry probe.
Allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of American dollars from the central bank of Lebanon, the brothers used the money to facilitate money laundering overseas at the expense of the Lebanese administration. A portion of the money was invested in real estate, notably in Germany, and was sent to Europe through a letterbox company based in the British Virgin Islands.
Three commercial properties in Munich and Hamburg, valued at approximately 28 million euros ($30.3 million), were seized in an investigation involving associate authorities from France and Luxembourg, according to the prosecutor's office. Furthermore, shares in a real estate business based in Dusseldorf were seized, worth around 7 million euros, or $7.5 million.
Salameh was the subject of a red notice from Interpol and a warrant for arrest from the French authorities last year.
Beginning his position in 1993 as a beacon of hope towards recovery for the Lebanese people after a 15 year civil war, he has left his occupation as a wanted man in Europe, and in Lebanon is widely believed to be the cause of the economic catastrophe that hit the nation in the middle of 2019.
He was viewed by many financial experts as the mastermind behind the fragile economic system that fell apart after decades of widespread corruption and poor leadership from Lebanon's major parties, which was not helped by the country's supply of dollars rapidly fading.
As hard cash was drained at the banks, the crisis crushed the Lebanese pound and decimated many people's savings. Salameh, for his part, has consistently refuted the accusations made against him and maintained that his inheritance of homes and assets, as well as his prior position at Merrill Lynch as an investment banker, are the sources of his fortune.