Raja Salameh's Lawyer Files Release Request
The lawyer of Raja Salameh -- the detained brother of Central Bank chief Riad Salameh – filed Monday a request for the release of his client.
LBCI television said the request was filed to Judge Nicolas Mansour along with “the needed documents to verify how he paid for the real estate properties mentioned in the case.”
“The request was referred to Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun to give her opinion,” the TV network added.
Aoun had last Monday charged Riad Salameh with "illicit enrichment" and money laundering after he failed to attend a court hearing for the fifth time. She also charged Salameh's brother Raja with "facilitating money laundering" after he was arrested earlier this month over financial misconduct.
The same charge was filed against Ukrainian national Anna Kosakova, who jointly owns a company with Raja Salameh.
Aoun is investigating whether a number of residential apartments in Paris belong to Riad Salameh. His brother had previously claimed the flats belong to the central bank.
Earlier this year, Aoun slapped the central bank chief with a travel ban for alleged financial misconduct and ordered security forces to forcibly bring him in for questioning.
The judge is overseeing several legal cases against the central bank governor, who has repeatedly failed to show up at hearings.
Salameh has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
He has accused Aoun of "personal enmity," saying the prosecution is politically motivated and part of an "organized campaign to tarnish" his reputation.
Lebanon opened a local probe into Riad Salameh's wealth last year, after the Swiss top prosecutor's office requested assistance in an investigation into more than $300 million which he allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with the help of his brother.
Salameh also faces lawsuits in other European countries, including France and Britain.
Lebanon's top banker of three decades is blamed for policies that contributed to the country's financial collapse, a charge he has repeatedly denied.
