“Lebanon Debate”
Every day that the judiciary advances a step in the files of the former governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh, new layers of financial networks appear before the Lebanese that were managed for decades within the Bank of Lebanon, far from any actual oversight, while depositors’ funds were gradually evaporating under complex financial and banking titles.
In this context, the investigation session held today in the file related to the V Invest company, which is accused by the Bank of Lebanon alongside Riad Salama, against the backdrop of transferring about $70 million from the Central Bank’s accounts without positive justifications, witnessed a remarkable judicial development within the investigation hall between the Financial Public Prosecutor, Judge Fouad Murad, and the lawyer, Bassem Al-Hout, one of the officials in the defendant company.
According to the information, Al-Hout attended the session in his capacity as an official within the company, but the course of the session took a different direction after Judge Murad informed him of the necessity of obtaining prior permission to hear him as a lawyer, which opened a legal discussion between the two parties during the session.
The data indicate that Judge Murad informed Al-Hout that his presence was to listen to his testimony and not as a defendant, and therefore the session did not require obtaining prior permission from the Bar Association. However, Al-Hout maintained his position of refusing to listen to him without the required legal permission, which prompted Judge Murad to end the session without questioning him.
While legal circles considered that what happened fell within the rights associated with lawyer immunity, sources following the file saw that the method that Riad Salama was accused of adopting for years in the face of judicial investigations began to spread to some of those involved or linked to the file, through the use of formal procedures and legal loopholes to delay the course of justice in a case that is considered one of the most dangerous files related to public funds and the funds of depositors.
The sources add that disrupting the hearing at this sensitive time raises question marks about attempts to buy time and slow down the investigations, especially since the file relates to huge financial transfers that took place from the accounts of the Bank of Lebanon, which places the Beirut Bar Association and the head of the Bar Association, Imad Martinus, with a great responsibility in dealing with any permission request that may be submitted later in this extremely sensitive file.
According to the information, the V Invest file is not viewed as a separate issue, but rather as a direct extension of the financial paths that previously began with the “Forry” company, as the data indicate that transfers to V Invest began in 2017 immediately after the cessation of transfers to “Forry,” in what appeared to be a move from one financial channel to another within the same network linked to Riad Salama.
Preliminary investigations reveal, according to the information, that V Invest, which received tens of millions of dollars from the Bank of Lebanon, is not officially registered in Lebanon, which raises major question marks about how these transfers are passed within the financial and banking system without objection or supervisory scrutiny.
The data also indicates that part of the money transferred through the company reached members of Riad Salama’s family and those close to him, including actress Stephanie Saliba, which reinforces suspicions that the company was used as a financial channel to pass and distribute money within the network of interests linked to the former ruler.
In parallel, another legal dimension emerges within the case, represented by the fact that Bassem Al-Hout is a lawyer and an official within the company at the same time, which opens the door to discussion about the extent to which this role is compatible with the law regulating the legal profession, which prohibits a lawyer from practicing commercial business or assuming the management of commercial companies directly.
“Lebanon Debate” learned that a new session was scheduled for next week to hear from Fadi Anis Al-Daouk and lawyer Bassem Al-Hout, but follow-up sources ruled out any actual progress during it, especially since next week coincides with the Eid al-Adha holiday, which may open the door to further postponement in a file that has come to be seen as one of the most sensitive and complex files of financial waste.
While the Lebanese are awaiting what the upcoming investigations will reveal, it seems that the V Invest file is likely to turn into one of the most embarrassing cases for the financial and judicial system that has surrounded Riad Salama for years, especially if it is proven that tens of millions of dollars left the Bank of Lebanon towards companies with an unclear legal structure, while the country was gradually sinking into the largest financial collapse in its modern history.
