Lebanon sets record $20 million bail for ex-central bank governor Riad Salameh

Dubai: The Lebanese judiciary on Tuesday approved the release of former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on the highest bail ever set in the country, more than $20 million, after he spent a year in detention on embezzlement charges, judicial sources said.

Salameh, 75, was arrested in September 2024 and charged with multiple crimes, including embezzling public funds and forgery. He has been at the center of local and European investigations for three years, accused of illegally amassing real estate and banking assets during his three decades as head of the Banque du Liban.

“The indictment chamber headed by Judge Nasib Elia approved the release of Riad Salameh on bail of $20 million and 5 billion Lebanese pounds, and imposed a one-year travel ban,” a judicial source said. The source added that his release is contingent on payment of the bail.

Another judicial official described the bail as “the highest in the history of the Lebanese judiciary.”

Salameh’s lawyer, Marc Habka, criticized the ruling, calling the bail “exorbitant and unlawful” and vowing to consult with his client about next steps.

The case specifically relates to allegations that Salameh embezzled $44 million from the central bank and engaged in illicit enrichment. He was also granted bail in two other cases last month. According to one judicial source, his release would have become automatic by Sept. 4, when the maximum period for pretrial detention without trial was set to expire.

Once celebrated as the architect of Lebanon’s monetary policy, Salameh became a deeply polarizing figure after the country’s devastating economic collapse began in 2019. 

Critics accuse him of engineering policies that allowed political elites and bankers to shift losses onto ordinary citizens, while supporters credit him with stabilizing Lebanon’s finances during earlier periods of turmoil.

He remained in office until the end of his term in July 2023, shielded by powerful political factions despite mounting scrutiny. He has denied all wrongdoing.

European prosecutors suspect Salameh and his brother Raja of laundering millions through real estate and bank accounts abroad. The United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have already imposed sanctions on him and his family, freezing their assets over alleged corruption.