BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon’s former central bank governor Riad Salameh was arrested Tuesday after being questioned over alleged embezzlement, a judicial official told AFP.
The public prosecutor “arrested Salameh after questioning him for three hours on suspicions of embezzlement from the central bank exceeding $40 million”, the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Another judicial source told Reuters that Salameh was arrested at Lebanon's justice palace following a hearing about the central bank's dealings with Optimum Invest, a Lebanese firm that offers income brokerage services, according to its website.
The source said that Optimum had dealt with Lebanon's central bank to buy and sell treasury bonds and certificates of deposit in Lebanese pounds.
Optimum did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. An undated statement on its website said that a financial audit had found "no evidence of wrongdoing or illegality" in the company's dealings with Lebanon's central bank.
