US EditionGermany aims to confiscate property seized in Lebanon ex-central bank chief probe
German prosecutors seek permanent confiscation of €35 million in assets tied to alleged embezzlement by Riad Salameh and associates, linked to over $330 million diverted from Lebanon's central bank.
- Munich prosecutors applied in January 2026 to the Munich regional court to confiscate about 35 million euros seized from Riad Salameh, former governor of Lebanon's central bank.
- The probe began in mid-2021, targeting Raja Salameh, four others, and involving cooperation from investigators in France and Luxembourg, prosecutors say.
- Prosecutors seized high-value commercial properties in Munich and Hamburg, along with shares in a Duesseldorf real estate company, tracing funds to transactions between the Lebanese central bank and commercial banks in Lebanon linked to Forry Associates.
- A Munich court will decide whether the seized property can be permanently confiscated, prosecutors said, while Lebanese authorities seek reclaimed assets and Riad Salameh vowed, `My lawyer will challenge the case and will prove that these investments are of my own funds`.
- Riad Salameh, who led the central bank from 1993 to 2023, was arrested in 2024 and indicted in April 2025 after prosecutors alleged he and Raja Salameh embezzled more than $330,000,000 between 2004 and 2015.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Germany seeks to seize assets in Lebanon ex-central bank probe
German prosecutors have applied to a court to confiscate some 35 million euros ($42 million) worth of property they had seized in a money laundering investigation into the former governor of Lebanon's central bank and other defendants. Several European countries, including France, Germany and Luxembourg, have been investigating whether tens of millions of dollars of the funds allegedly embezzled from the central bank were laundered in Europe. Th…
The Munich Public Prosecutor's Office confiscated 35 million euros. Lebanese bankers are said to have invested embezzled funds in Munich real estate.
The former head of the Lebanese Central Bank, Riad Salamé, is said to have embezzled 330 million US dollars. Part of the money is said to have flowed into shares and real estate in Germany, which the authorities now want to deprive him of.
The Straits Times
InternazionaleGermany aims to confiscate property seized in Lebanon ex-central bank chief probe
BERLIN, Jan 29 - German prosecutors have applied to a court to confiscate some 35 million euros ($42 million) worth of property they had seized in a money laundering investigation into the former governor of Lebanon's central bank and other defendants. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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