Among the European investigators currently in Beirut is a French investigator named Serge Tournaire.
According to French media investigations, he is nicknamed "Zorro" in certain legal and political circles in Paris due to his complete secrecy away from the media and public and private receptions. At the same time, he has dedicated himself tirelessly to fighting corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, and all types of financial crimes, especially those involving the powerful and influential.
The European judiciary is well aware of his achievements, such as pursuing first-rank politicians and businessmen (Nicolas Sarkozy, Francois Fillon, Bernard Tapie, Vincent Bollore, and Serge Dassault), to the point where he has become one of the most respected and influential names in France.
Serge Tournaire is currently in Beirut alongside French judge Aude Buresi, who is investigating suspicions of financial crimes committed by the governor of the Baque Du Liban and others described as a "gang of villains."
It is expected that Buresi will move to another position within the French judiciary this year and will be succeeded in the Lebanese file by Tournaire, but only after Buresi issues the preliminary and accusatory decisions, which she has already started doing.
It is known that Tournaire began his professional life by pursuing gangs and lawbreakers in the toughest cities in France: Marseille and Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica.
He left a special mark in dismantling and striking gangs and mafias that many before him failed to do. Upon his move to Paris, he continued his work in pursuing influential figures, treating them the same way he would treat small-time criminals in southern France.
He does not change his approach just because he faces a politician or a wealthy businessman.
He completely strips himself of the identity of the person he is interrogating and investigates in a way that does not involve any collusion or possible settlements; even exchanging smiles is not possible. Yes, he is capable of investigating for eight continuous hours without a smile or any other negative or positive emotion!
Those who know him say that he is "strict and cold-blooded and has a special touch that no one can match in investigations according to the applicable laws and procedures."
They add that "sometimes he deals with lawyers and the defendants' clients as he does with the defendants themselves, and he is ready to raid law firms when he sees it necessary."
He learned a lot from pursuing small-time criminals and applies the same approach to pursuing big-time criminals, even if it requires him to request wiretapping their calls in accordance with relevant laws.
One Parisian lawyer says that Serge Tournaire is a genius in his approach. He prepares his questions well and presents them in an easy, logical, and sequential manner, laced with a terrible scheme in the content to catch the suspect in their contradictions in the easiest ways possible.
One judge who has dealt with him confirms "his intelligence is much higher than average," noting "to his special way of asking questions so that the person in front of him only feels the need to cooperate."
According to sources following the file of Riad Salameh and others, this is what "bankers of Lebanon" is waiting for.
In a related development, it was rumored yesterday that the Director of Regulation and Development at the Central Bank of Lebanon, Raja Bou Assali, may have resigned from his position, knowing that he will be investigated in the coming days along with a number of witnesses and suspects for European investigators.
According to sources following the matter, do not rule out Bou Assali's desire to continue cooperating with the European judiciary, as Nabil Aoun did before him. Marwan Khairddin will likely take the same path.
It is worth noting that Khairddin is required to return to Paris next month to confirm the cooperation journey he began, which does not cancel out possible accusations but may ease the burden of trials if investigators conclude that he must be tried.