Beirut: The second hearing between a European legal delegation and Marianne Hoayek, the assistant to the governor of the central bank of Lebanon, was concluded on Friday.
In connection with a money laundering investigation involving the European bank accounts of the governor Riad Salameh and his brother Raja Salameh, Hoayek is being questioned as a suspect.
The assistant to Marwan Kheireddine, the head of Al-Mawarid Bank, Madeleine Shaheen was also questioned by the EU judicial delegation. An investigator from Luxembourg as well as a public prosecutor from Munich are part of the delegation, which is headed by a French judge named Aude Buresi.
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"The delegation asked Hoayek about a hundred questions, and she answered all of them," a legal source told Arab News.
Hoayek, who didn't have a lawyer present, was questioned about her involvement in the financial management of the Banque du Liban as well as her role as Salameh's executive adviser since April 2020.
Both of the two sessions were attended by Judge Helena Iskandar, head of the Cases Authority at the Ministry of Justice, who is defending the Lebanese state in its claim against Salameh, as well as Charbel Abu Samra, the first investigating judge in Beirut who is in charge of carrying out European authorizations.
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Kheireddine has been under interrogation by Judge Buresi in France for several weeks now regarding allegations of "associating with a criminal gang with the aim of embezzling public funds, breach of trust, and corruption of a public official."
The European delegation informed the Lebanese judiciary that Kheireddine, who had just returned to Beirut, was required to abide by rules prohibiting him from entering his bank, Al-Mawarid Bank, or speaking with Riad Salameh, Raja Salameh, Nadi Salameh (the son of Riad Salameh), Hoayek, Marwan Khoury, Nabil Aoun, and Antoine Salameh.
Information about Kheireddine's alleged assistance with money laundering operations was disclosed by the French prosecution. Kheireddine allegedly used financial accounts to help Riad Salameh, his brother, son, and those close to him.
According to the judicial source, "Lebanon is not required to implement any control over Kheireddine on Lebanese soil."
Judge Ghassan Oueidat, the public prosecutor, is anticipated to make a formal request to the French judicial system for a copy of the Kheireddine investigation.
Samir Gholam from Gholam & Co. Auditing and Walid Nakfour from Ernst & Young are scheduled to testify before the European judicial delegation on Tuesday, assuming Raja Salameh and Raja Abu Asali, the former director of organisation and development at BDL, are questioned on Wednesday.
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Raja Salameh missed his scheduled hearing sessions last Tuesday and Wednesday because of a medical excuse provided by his attorney. The financial auditor at Deloitte, Nada Makhlouf, will be questioned by the European judicial delegation on Thursday. Since the 1990s, the aforementioned financial auditors have been examining BDL accounts. The European delegation will question interim Finance Minister Youssef Khalil on Friday.
A judicial source claims that although the foreign judicial delegation is not authorised to file charges against the subjects of the interrogation while they are in Lebanon, they are free to do so once they have returned to their home nation.
On May 16, Riad Salameh is anticipated to be questioned by Judge Buresi in Paris. It is unknown if the governor appears before the French judicial system.
In parallel with investigations in other European nations and Switzerland, the French financial investigation into Riad Salameh's wealth got underway in July 2021.
Following an investigation into Salameh, his two brothers, and those close to him on allegations of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon totaling more than $330 million and €5 million, respectively, between 2002 and 2021, France, Germany, and Luxembourg froze €120 million ($132 million) in Lebanese assets.