May 16. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The French judge in charge of investigating the possessions of the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salamé, in Europe issued an international arrest warrant against him on Tuesday for refusing to testify in Paris, the French capital, as planned for this Tuesday.
Salamé has not come to testify as the French Prosecutor tries to carry out a series of charges against him for fraud and money laundering, according to information from the newspaper ‘An Nahar’.
The court hearing was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. (local time) this Tuesday, according to judicial data, but Salamé has not attended despite the fact that both he and his former assistant, Marian Howayek, and his brother, Raja Salamé, have been accused of misappropriation of some 300 million dollars (276 million euros) from the Central Bank.
However, several sources close to the matter have indicated that the governor did not plan to leave Beirut throughout the day, while a senior official has pointed out that the summonses could not be delivered because Salamé was not in his office.
Salamé, who is also facing similar investigations in Switzerland, has been the subject of numerous criticisms for the role of the Central Bank, although he has rejected the accusations and has pointed to the actions of various political parties, which he blames for the situation that crosses the country.
