Raja Salameh fails to appear before European judicial team

Central bank chief Riad Salameh's brother, Raja, failed Tuesday to appear before a European judicial delegation as his lawyer submitted a medical report.

Last month, his brother appeared for two consecutive days and for the first time, before European investigators including French Judge Aude Buresi, through Judge Abu Samra, acting as a go-between. The judges were probing his personal wealth and allegedly suspicious financial transfers abroad.

Salameh faces allegations of crimes including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion in separate probes in Lebanon and abroad. His brother Raja is accused of complicity.

The European delegation returned Monday in Lebanon, to probe Raja, Salameh's associate Marianne Hoayek and others.

The judges will also probe caretaker Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil, former Central Bank official Raja bou Assali, Assurance Leader at Ernst & Young Walid Nakfour, Partner at Deloitte M.E. Nada Maalouf, according to journalist Mounir Younes.