From August 1993 until July 2023, Riad Salameh served as the governor of Lebanon’s central bank. For decades, he was praised for his role in the country’s perceived economic stability, until his responsibility leading up to the financial crisis came to light, particularly starting 2019. This has resulted in several legal actions initiated against him and members of his inner circle, both domestically and internationally. Since early September 2024, Salameh had been in pretrial detention following one of those cases, becoming the most senior Lebanese official to get arrested since the country’s financial collapse. On September 26, Salameh was released after paying $14 million in bail.
Summary of key domestic investigations
In April 2021, Lebanese prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into suspected bank transfers from the central bank to Forry Associates Ltd, an offshore company owned by Riad Salameh’s brother, Raja. The domestic investigations followed an inquiry opened by Switzerland in 2020 for which Swiss authorities requested mutual legal assistance from Lebanon. The Swiss investigation focused on alleged money laundering and possible embezzlement by Riad and Raja Salameh, involving approximately $330 million in brokerage fees transferred from the central bank to Forry Associates between 2002 and 2015, and subsequently funneled to Swiss bank accounts and companies reportedly linked to both of them.
In relation to these facts, in February 2023, Beirut’s Public Prosecutor ultimately charged Riad Salameh—along with his brother Raja and his assistant Marianne Hoayek—with crimes including public funds embezzlement, forgery, illicit enrichment, money laundering, and tax evasion. The case was referred to the Beirut First Investigating Judge for interrogation, who decided to release Riad Salameh pending investigation. The head of the State Litigation Department appealed this decision before the Indictment Chamber, which accepted the appeal. However, Salameh has obstructed legal proceedings since then.
In relation to another set of alleged crimes, in March 2022, Mount Lebanon’s Public Prosecutor charged Salameh with illicit enrichment and money laundering, among other charges, in connection with the purchase and rental of apartments in Paris. Prior to that, a travel ban and asset freeze were issued against him in January 2022. The prosecutor also charged Raja and Anna Kosakova, a Ukrainian national and former romantic partner of Riad, with complicity. The prosecutor ordered the arrest of Raja, who was released two months later on bail. After more than two years of stalled proceedings, Mount Lebanon’s First Investigative Judge issued a second arrest warrant against Riad in October 2024. The charges included embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and illicit enrichment tied to the purchase and rental of apartments in Paris.
Finally, Lebanon’s Public Prosecution also launched an investigation into another case involving a suspected embezzlement scheme allegedly orchestrated by Riad Salameh between the central bank and the brokerage firm Optimum Invest. According to The National and a forensic audit conducted by the international audit firm Kroll, the central bank had engaged in 45 transactions with Optimum between 2015 and 2018. Through these transactions, the central bank loaned funds to Optimum to purchase treasury bonds, only to buy the same bonds back at a higher price. While the maneuver generated approximately $8 billion in gains for the central bank on paper, in reality, it created no real economic value, raising serious suspicions about potential embezzlement, illicit enrichment, and falsifying financial records. While investigations concerning Riad Salameh’s involvement in this case are still ongoing, no information has been made publicly available regarding their outcomes. However, experts suggest that the Optimum case pointed to a shady consulting account at the central bank, which eventually led to the arrest of Riad Salameh in September 2024 in a case involving this account.
Spotlight: The consulting account case
In September 2024, Salameh was arrested in connection with a case known as the Consulting Account Case, that involves the embezzlement of approximately $44 million with the complicity of two lawyers, Michel Tueni and Marwan Issa El-Khoury. The case alleged that Salameh unilaterally ordered transfers from the central bank’s consulting account to Tueni, who in turn, issued checks to El-Khoury. The latter then transferred the checks back to Salameh, only for Salameh to sign them and deposit them in his private account.
In April 2025, Beirut’s First Investigating Judge issued a presumptive decision against Salameh, Tueni, and El-Khoury, with charges including embezzlement of public funds and forgery (or complicity in these charges in the case of the two lawyers), in addition to illicit enrichment. The Investigating Judge dismissed Salameh’s request for release and ordered that the case be referred to court. The Public Prosecution then submitted the decision to the Indictment Chamber, which is responsible for issuing the final indictment before the case proceeds to court.
In August 2025, the Indictment Chamber agreed to release Salameh on a $20 million and LBP 5 billion (approximately $56,000) bail, while also imposing a one-year travel ban. On September 25, the chamber approved the request of Salameh’s lawyer to reduce the bail to $14 million. He was released from detention after paying the amount the following day. Some legal professionals argue that Salameh would have been released in September 2025 anyway upon reaching the maximum period of pretrial detention under Lebanese law.
Additional legal context
A release from pretrial detention does not constitute an acquittal, and investigations into Salameh’s alleged financial crimes, both in the Consulting Account case and in other cases, remain ongoing. Once an indictment is successfully issued in any of these cases, he should be brought to trial.
It is also important to note that several criminal probes into Salameh’s alleged financial crimes are being conducted by other countries, including Switzerland, France, Germany, and Luxembourg, with a current arrest warrant issued against him by France. However, Lebanon’s laws do not allow the extradition of its nationals.
Domestically, numerous investigations into financial crimes allegedly committed by politically connected persons have been obstructed or constrained by political interference, leaving much uncertainty as to what kind of accountability can be expected in Salameh’s cases in the country. For example, it is concerning that the Consulting Account Case focused solely on the $44 million that were allegedly embezzled, despite reports indicating that hundreds of millions of dollars had been transferred from the central bank to third parties.
The significance of the Salameh cases
The domestic investigations and prosecution of the financial crimes that fueled Lebanon’s economic collapse are of critical importance for the country’s future. Across socioeconomic classes and backgrounds, the entire population has been collectively harmed by the financial engineering policies that enabled the country’s economic collapse. People have the right to see justice pursued domestically and abroad.
Looking ahead, the Lebanese judiciary should strive to be more transparent in its proceedings against Riad Salameh and those responsible for financial crimes, and should ensure that no other potential offenses committed by Salameh and others are disregarded, including the current cases related to Forry Associates Ltd, Optimum Invest, and the Paris flats. It is essential for the judiciary to act independently from political interference, cooperate with ongoing European investigations, and proceed with integrity in issuing indictments and referring the relevant cases to trial in a timely manner that respects due process.
Disclaimer: All information in this case profile is drawn from publicly available open-source materials, as official records are not accessible to the public.