Prosecutor in France and founder of the Sherpa association, William Bourdon, has confirmed that "the case filed against the governor of the Central Bank Riad Salameh, in France is reaching its conclusion, and the current objective is to open other files against individuals who participated with the governor in the crimes committed and those who caused the major collapse in Lebanon, as well as others who contributed to the widespread corruption.
This is part of the effort to end the prevailing impunity in Lebanon.
He announced that his office had initiated the necessary procedures to open these files and called on other offices to take similar actions to seek justice for the Lebanese people.
This article is originally published in, translated from Lebanon newspaper Nidaa al-Watan.
During a press conference at the Bar Association, he explained that "this process will not directly return the money to depositors, but it will restore rights to the Lebanese state. Another path related to the depositors emerged after discovering files and suspicions in several Lebanese banks and their branches abroad regarding manipulation of accounting restrictions and budgets and other abnormal matters currently under investigation in preparation for filing a complaint. If a result is reached, a lawsuit will be filed against these banks on charges of fraudulent bankruptcy, which can be used to prosecute bank officials and directors."
In turn, the head of the Beirut Bar Association's Committee for the Protection of Depositors' Rights, Karim Daher, affirmed that caution must be exercised regarding any attempts to mislead the recovery of depositors' funds in Lebanon.
"The current legal proceedings in the case filed against Salameh on charges of forgery, embezzlement, and money laundering are not only a case against the governor, his partners, and his aides," he explained.
"The complaint is filed against unknown individuals, a group of criminals, and anyone who the investigation reveals to be involved, whether as a perpetrator or a partner in the unprecedented financial collapse in Lebanon and the process of seizing deposits and the resulting damages." He further stated.
"This means that anyone who appears in the investigation to have any role, whether direct or indirect, in these cases, will be pursued in France. It should be noted that many depositors hope that if the governor is convicted, they will quickly recover their money, but this is inaccurate," he added.
He said, "Two paths govern the recovery of depositors' funds: the first is that the funds to be recovered will be claimed on a personal basis, and this is what the Legislation and Issues Department at the Ministry of Justice has done."
"The second path directly concerns the depositors, and there is a misleading notion among depositors that participating in a complaint against the governor in France will return their funds to them, which is inaccurate," he stressed.
"The truth is that there is a path devised by William Bourdon and initiated in France for some depositors in Lebanese banks. Through this path, it is possible to pursue the banks and their branches abroad, as well as the banking officials and influential individuals who unlawfully transferred funds from Lebanon," he concluded.