Luxembourg judicial authorities opened a criminal investigation into the governor of Lebanon’s Central Bank Riad Salameh and his companies and assets, a Luxembourg judicial official said on Monday.
He is being suspected of misuse of public funds, illicit enrichment, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Those suspicions concern the offshore companies owned by Salameh’s family, among them 3 companies in Luxembourg.
The small European country joins Switzerland and France that previously opened cases against Salameh.
Switzerland is investigating him for alleged aggravating money laundering at the Central Bank, which involves $300 million in gains by his brother’s company.
France is investigating the same allegations as well since May.
Salameh has denied any link with those accusations, citing his employment as a banker and his inheritances as the origin of his fortune.
The Central Bank Governor is often accused of corruption and of enriching himself while Lebanon’s economy is collapsing.
When the scandal of the Pandora Papers came out, putting wealthy offshore companies of famous figures under the spotlight, Salameh’s name was on the list, increasing corruptions suspicion.
