Lebanese justice freezes the assets of five major banks

LEBANON. After the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL- Banque du Liban) asked the country's commercial banks to provide the names of political figures who did not repatriate funds sent abroad to avoid the country's collapse in 2019, the Lebanese justice system is interested in financial institutions.

The Lebanese prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Ghada Aoun, had issued, on Thursday 10 March 2022, travel bans for the heads of the boards of directors of five Lebanese banks (Bank of Beirut, Bank Audi, SGBL, Blom Bank and Bankmed) as a precautionary measure.

Investigating the transactions carried out by these institutions, she requested, on Monday 14 March 2022 according to Reuters and the local Arab press, the freezing of the assets of these five banks as well as Salim Sfeir, Samir Hanna, Antoun Sehnaoui, Saad Azhari and Raya Hassan, respective chairmen of their boards of directors. Ghada Aoun issued a transfer ban on all land, vehicles and shares in their possession.

At the beginning of February 2022, Ghada Aoun had surprised by summoning Riad Salamé, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, to appear in an investigation on "embezzlement, illicit enrichment and money laundering". At the end of January 2021, it had banned him from leaving the Lebanese territory.