Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Thursday, May 22, 2025
    961
    Instagram Facebook LinkedIn TikTok
    • Breaking News
    • Guides
    • Food & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Join the Team
    • Whatsapp
      • 961
      • 961 News
    • AUB Outdoors ☀️
    Advertise with Us Get the App
    961
    Home»News»Lebanon News
    Riad Salameh's Speech
    4 Mins Read

    Riad Salameh Accuses Swiss Media Of Campaigning Against Him

    By Natalie HaddadOctober 13, 2021
    Facebook WhatsApp Copy Link

    Responding to an investigative article by Le Temps, which The961 reported about on Friday, Riad Salameh went on the offensive, accusing the Swiss daily of conspiracy against him and his investigation of suspicious insider trading in Lebanon.

    Calling Le Temps “an armed wing” of these alleged defaulters, Salameh claimed – again – that he is a target of a campaign, including now Le Temps in the mix, which he accused of “fraudulent.”

    He claimed that Le Temps published that report at a time when Lebanon is back on discussions with the IMF, which is, according to him, an indication of a plot to prevent Lebanon’s recovery.

    Le Temps has revealed in its report by the investigative journalists Antoine Hariri and Clement Fayol that pertinent key data that could have spared Lebanon its current financial crisis was removed from a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016.

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by ↻հąղցҽ įʂ įղҽѵìէąҍӀҽ 🇱🇧 (@changelebanon)

    The Swiss daily stated that based on the original report in its possession, the information detailed in over a dozen pages, which were later deleted, shows a deficit of $4.7 billion, and reveals, among other matters, that the Lebanese banks didn’t have enough liquidity to face the imminent crisis.

    Accordingly, the IMF warned back then that Lebanon was at the edge of a financial collapse.

    Salameh denied the deletion of that crucial data and minimized, now again, his authority as the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon in the discussions with the IMF back then.

    And yet, Article 5 of the Lebanese legislation’s Decree 553 of 1990 makes Salameh “the privileged interlocutor of the international organizations,” as Le Temps pointed out on Tuesday in its response to Salameh’s accusations.

    In that response, Le Temps went on to reveal new information involving Salameh, tapping into his argument of the said illegal internal trading that he claims investigating for a while.

    When Lebanon was about to default on its debts early last year, “people who had bet against the country pocketed nearly $215 million thanks to the credit default swaps (CDS),” the Swiss daily noted.

    The practice of CDS, which is a financial (insurance) coverage in case of default, is not illegal per se. However, the gains are deemed as such when the involved have any connection to the decision-making of the government or have pressured the Lebanese government to default on payments.

    “Members of the Central Bank have been talking about this investigation for a year,” an anonymous source at the Lebanese Ministry of Justice told Le Temps. “But they didn’t do anything. If they have evidence and names, let them share it!”

    As it appears, these have been only talks without any action.

    Le Temps argued that “no act of investigation, or request for international cooperation, has been carried out, even though in this case, Riad Salameh is the sole master on board as director of the Special Investigation Commission (SIC), the body responsible for investigating financial crimes.”

    In that respect, Beirut-based debt specialist and former Johns Hopkins University lecturer Mike Azar told Le Temps, “The idea that insiders bought CDS and then pressured the government to default on some payments doesn’t make much economic sense.”

    He added that “if the Central Bank has evidence of insider trading or any other economic crime without acting or reporting it, that is a huge dereliction of duty.”

    AP | Bilal Hussein

    A statement that needs no convincing arguments for the Lebanese people who have been suffering the extreme consequences in Lebanon and overseas with the students stuck in financial hardships away from home.

    In Lebanon, parents of these students and people who strongly believe that they cannot remain silent in front of such abuse of power have been protesting in front of banks and residences of banking officials.

    And it hasn’t been going well for them. Their voices are not only echoing in deaf ears of those in charge but their demands for their rights to their money in banks have been met with assaults and violence.

    Somehow, those in charge and their guards don’t seem to have been impacted by the restriction of access to their money in banks, or by the financial collapse, or by the economic crisis.

    In a country where crimes by officials go unpunished, mudded by excuses and lack of accountability, and prosecutors get threatened and sued, like in the case of the Beirut Blast investigation, one could only question where and when (and if) the Rule of Law applies in Lebanon’s democracy.

    Central Bank of Lebanon Economic Crisis International Monetary Fund (IMF) Riad Salameh
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email

    For You

    visa whish money partnership

    Visa and Whish Money Just Partnered To Push Digital Payments in Lebanon and Abroad

    uae travel ban lebanon 961

    UAE Is Officially Removing The Travel Ban On Lebanon

    Joe Issa El-Khoury 961

    Who is Joe Issa El-Khoury, Lebanon’s New Minister of Industry

    Tamara El-Zein 961

    Who is Tamara El-Zein, Lebanon’s New Minister of Environment

    Adel Nassar 961

    Who is Adel Nassar, Lebanon’s New Minister of Justice

    Nizar Hani 961

    Who is Nizar Hani, Lebanon’s New Minister of Agriculture

    Ampere Cinema Reopens Its Doors In North Lebanon After 28 Years Of Absence

    20 Celebrities You Probably Didn’t Know Had Lebanese Roots

    April 22, 2019
    saint levant aub outdoors 2025 961

    Saint Levant Is Officially Headlining AUB Outdoors 2025!

    May 7, 2025

    Lebanon’s Shawarma Is Going Viral in The Philippines

    April 21, 2019
    dew apparel nada koussa miss lebanon 961

    Miss Lebanon Nada Koussa Just Launched A Sportswear Brand

    May 3, 2025
    Lebanese boutiques

    25 Boutiques In Lebanon To Find Your Dream Evening Dress This Wedding Season

    June 9, 2024

    20 Typical Lebanese Slang Expressions

    April 21, 2020
    arabic words

    30 Beautiful Arabic Words You Probably Want To Learn

    April 22, 2020
    nada koussa miss world miss lebanon 961

    Nada Koussa Just Left To Represent Lebanon At Miss World

    May 7, 2025
    Fitness Lebanon

    15 Top Gyms in Lebanon for Every Workout Style

    November 2, 2023
    961 Logo
    Facebook WhatsApp TikTok Instagram

    Popular Topics

    • Guides
    • Eat & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Lebanon News
    • Diaspora
    • Explained

    961

    • About
    • WhatsApp Channel
    • News WhatsApp Channel
    • Corrections Policy
    • Ownership & Funding

    Services

    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • App Waitlist
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
    961™ | All Rights Reserved ©2025
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Okay