The Supreme Banking Authority issued a decision to freeze the accounts of investment banking firm Samara Al-Qazzi and a group of individuals and companies, against the backdrop of two complaints submitted by the Bank of Lebanon, one of which related to the file of the “V Invest” company and suspicions of transferring unjustified funds.
The decision, which was issued under the chairmanship of the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Karim Saeed, came to prevent those concerned from disposing of the assets of iron safes held by banks and financial institutions operating in Lebanon, whether it concerns the accounts linked to them directly or indirectly, individually or jointly.
The list of names included in the procedure, in addition to Al-Qazzi, included the former governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salama, his brother Raja Salama, Marian Al-Howayek, and Bassem Mahmoud Al-Hout, in addition to the company “V Limited Investment Inc” and other names.
The irony of this decision is that Al-Qazzi, who has long written articles and analyzes about the financial crisis, depositors’ rights, and sources of funds – especially those she published at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, including a joint report with researcher Hanin Ghaddar on Hezbollah’s benefit from the Lebanese crisis – today found herself on the list aiming to freeze bank accounts.
