BEIRUT: European investigators grilled Lebanon’s finance minister on Friday as part of a probe into the wealth of the country’s central bank chief, his former boss, a judicial official said.
Youssef Khalil is a former central bank official who worked under Riad Salameh for almost three decades.
The caretaker minister answered “more than 100 questions” in three hours said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press.
“Khalil answered the questions and said all transactions that took place at the central bank during his tenure were legal,” he said, as the investigators wrapped up a two-week visit.
Salameh, 72, is part of Lebanon’s political class widely blamed for a crushing economic crisis that began in late 2019 and which the World Bank has dubbed one of the worst in recent history.
The European investigators from France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany are looking into allegations of financial misconduct, including possible money laundering and embezzlement.
— AFP
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