Lebanon

24 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, attended a judicial hearing in Beirut on Wednesday where his Lebanese and French passports were confiscated following an Interpol Red Notice against him over embezzlement and money-laundering charges, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT, May 24 (NNN-NNA) – Large-denomination banknotes of 500,000 and 1,000,000 Lebanese pounds (LBP), will likely be issued soon in Lebanon, local media reported, yesterday.

A joint session of parliamentary committees, yesterday approved a bill, permitting Banque Du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank, to issue notes worth more than 100,000 LBP in denomination.

If the bill is passed in parliament, notes worth 500,000 and 1,000,000 LBP will be printed, said the report.

24 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon is likely to be placed on a "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny over unsatisfactory practices to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Being added to the list would be another major blow to a country in a financial tailspin since 2019 and struggling to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Beirut, May 23 (Reuters) - Germany has informed Lebanon it has issued an arrest warrant for Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on corruption charges, including forgery, money laundering and embezzlement, a senior judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest warrant to Reuters. Salameh has denied any wrongdoing.

BEIRUT, May 23 (Reuters) - Lebanon is likely to be placed on a "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny over unsatisfactory practices to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Being added to the list would be another major blow to a country in a financial tailspin since 2019 and struggling to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

22 May 2023; MEMO: France's judiciary has summoned the brother of, and an assistant to, Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday, as it continues its probe into alleged embezzlement and money-laundering by the bank chief, Reuters reports.

AARAMTA, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese militant group Hezbollah put on a show of force Sunday, extending a rare media invitation to one of its training sites in southern Lebanon, where its forces staged a simulated military exercise.

Masked fighters jumped through flaming hoops, fired from the backs of motorcycles, and blew up Israeli flags posted in the hills above and a wall simulating the one at the border between Lebanon and Israel.

19 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon has received an Interpol notice issued for its Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, the country's caretaker Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, told Reuters on Friday, saying he would implement it if the judiciary instructed him to do so, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon on Friday received an Interpol notice for the country’s embattled central bank governor who failed to show up in Paris earlier in the week for questioning in a key corruption case, officials said.

France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating the governor, Riad Salameh, and his associates over myriad financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. A French investigative judge on Tuesday issued an international arrest warrant for Salameh after he did not answer summons for questioning in Paris.

19 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister, Saadeh Al-Shami, called on Thursday for Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, to resign following France's issuing of an arrest warrant against him as part of a fraud investigation, Reuters reports.