Latest on European money laundering investigation in Lebanon

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Vast sums of money exceeding 250 million dollars and may reach 500 million dollars with real estate withheld in Europe, specifically in France, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland, in a significant transfer operation in which Lebanese banks are suspected of being involved.

While some of these European countries suspect that these funds are the result of money laundering, they launched one of the most significant investigation operations in Lebanon, which began on Monday, to find out the source of the funds and how to transfer them.

On the second day of the European investigations, which will last for five days, the director of Al-Mawarid Bank, Marwan Kheireddine, and Ahmed Jishi, a former deputy governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL), appeared before the European hammer.

The investigations began at nine o'clock in the morning, after the European judges met with the Public Prosecutor of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, to inform him of the questions that would be asked to the witnesses, all of which he agreed to.

After that, the three delegations entered to participate in the session, along with Judge Mirna Kallas, who manages the session. The judge is implementing the European judicial letters of assistance request in an investigation described as very secret.

The listening to Marwan Kheireddine, which lasted for more than three hours, came on the background that he is the director of Al-Mawarid Bank, which is suspected of being involved, along with another bank, in the process of transferring funds to European banks and his participation in this process.

After Kheireddine, the European judicial delegations listened to the former deputy governor of the BDL, Ahmed Jishi. The questions focused on suspicion of embezzlement estimated at 500 million that was laundered through operations such as buying real estate between 2001 and 2018, noting that all those wanted for investigation were heard in the Lebanese investigation conducted by Judge Jean Tannous, commissioned by Oweidat.

So, the investigations of the European judicial delegations continue until the 20th of this month. The question remains if it is proven that these seized funds have suspicious sources and result from smuggling and corruption, who confiscates these funds? Is it for the European or the Lebanese side, and if Lebanon gets this money, how will it be dealt with?