French court upholds freezing of assets of Lebanon’s embattled central bank chief

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — A French court has upheld the freezing of assets of Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor rejecting his appeal to have them released. An official close to the investigation made the announcement Tuesday. Riad Salameh has repeatedly denied charges of corruption. He had requested that his assets be unfrozen. France, Germany and Luxembourg in March 2022 froze more than $130 million in assets linked to the investigation. Salameh was once hailed as the guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability. He since has been heavily blamed for Lebanon’s financial meltdown. Many say he precipitated the nearly four-year economic crisis which has plunged three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million into poverty.