The forensic audit has evolved from a mere report into a legal document since the Special Prosecutor's Office has taken up its examination and urged relevant authorities, including the concerned judiciary and the Special Investigation Commission at the Central Bank of Lebanon, to conduct the necessary investigations.
One of the powers of the Special Investigation Commission is to lift banking secrecy for individuals and companies in case of suspected money laundering.
In this context, it's been reported that upon receiving the information, the Special Investigation Commission swiftly lifted banking secrecy for one of the mentioned companies in the report, excluding the "Forry" company.
The commission then sent the relevant data to the Special Public Prosecutor's Office, as interim governor Wassim Mansouri intended when he spoke of sending an initial set of documents.
Regarding the required cooperation from the Central Bank of Lebanon, sources from its Central Council confirm that its members, including the four deputy governors and the Director-General of the Ministry of Economy, have consistently emphasized the necessity of delivering all the required documents to Alvarez & Marsal since the commencement of the forensic audit.
Hence, any talk today of a shortage of documents is surprising. In light of this, Mansouri is determined to rectify any error if found.
Additionally, information suggests that the Central Council recently requested the Special Investigation Commission to lift banking secrecy for all individuals named in the forensic audit report.
However, despite the widening measures and actions taken within the Central Bank, its efforts are only complete with judicial action.
In this context, the Court of Appeals is still designing the judge who will take over the case, following the request for the recusal of Prosecutor General Ziad Abou Haidar. As for the Financial Prosecutor's Office, its sources confirm that Judge Ali Ibrahim will personally lead the investigations, awaiting an official copy of the forensic audit report from the Special Prosecutor's Office in Arabic.
Will these investigations see the light of day, or will the reading of the audit report remain ink on paper?