Salameh's session postponed to Thursday as he fails to show up

Central bank chief Riad Salameh's interrogation session was postponed to Thursday, after he failed to appear Wednesday before visiting European investigators, part of a multinational probe into his personal wealth.

The European delegation — with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — spent about two hours at Beirut’s Justice Palace waiting for Salameh.

Salameh's lawyer affirmed that Salameh will attend Thursday's session, after the public prosecution refused a petition he had submitted and scheduled a new session for Thursday.

The petition considered the presence of foreign investigators at Salameh's hearing session "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the judiciary," media reports said.

Also on Wednesday, Head of the lawsuit department at the Justice Ministry Judge Helena Iskandar sued Salameh, his brother Raja, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek, after having met earlier in the morning with the European legal team.

The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he has amassed in a country mired in financial crisis.

He had been summoned for questioning on Wednesday in the domestic case, but that session has been postponed to make way for the European investigators.

The interrogation session that Salameh did not attend was scheduled at 10:00 am on Wednesday. For procedural reasons, Judge Charbel Abu Samra would have questioned Salameh in the presence of the European investigators, acting as a go-between. Under Lebanese laws, they cannot directly question Salameh.

Salameh denies all accusations against him and has rarely appeared before the judiciary, despite numerous complaints and summonses.

France, Germany and Luxembourg in March last year seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a French probe into Salameh's personal wealth.

Lebanese authorities last month charged the three-decade central bank chief, who remains in his post, with embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion.

In January, the European investigators interviewed banking officials in Beirut about the transfer of funds to countries where Salameh has significant assets.

They also examined the central bank's ties to Forry Associates Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-registered company that listed Salameh's brother as its beneficiary.

Forry is suspected of having brokered Lebanese treasury bonds and Eurobonds at a commission, which was then allegedly transferred to his bank accounts abroad.

Swiss media reported last month that 12 banks in the European country had received a large part of the money Salameh is alleged to have embezzled -- estimated at up to $500 million.