Britain's organized crime agency is reviewing a report by a group of London-based lawyers which accuses Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh and associates of money laundering and corrupt practices, four sources familiar with the matter said.
The 76-page report, seen by Reuters, outlines what it says are assets, companies and investment vehicles in Britain worth hundreds of millions of pounds which it alleges Salameh, members of his family and his associates used over years to divert funds out of Lebanon.
Salameh, who has led Lebanon's central bank since 1993, told Reuters he had read a copy of the report and described it as part of a smear campaign. "They are false allegations," he said.
London-based legal practice Guernica37 submitted the report to British police late last year, two of the sources said. They said it was then referred to Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA). The report was prepared on behalf a group from Lebanese civil society in the diaspora.