For more than a decade, Lebanon's central bank charged commercial banks in the country commissions when they bought government securities without making it clear that the bulk of those commissions went to a company controlled by the brother of the banking regulator's governor.
Four contracts between Banque du Liban (BDL) and a Lebanese commercial bank, dated from 2004 to 2014, state that the bank entering into the contract agreed to pay three-eighths of a 1 per cent commission on purchases of government certificates of deposit worth millions of dollars, Reuters reported.
Such contracts were standard for commercial banks making such purchases at the time, two senior executives in the finance industry told Reuters.
The contracts make no reference to Forry Associates, a company controlled by Raja Salameh, brother of central bank governor Riad Salameh. That company ultimately received such commissions, Mr Salameh told Reuters in an interview in November. His brother, Raja, could not be reached for comment.
Forry's “only job was to gather all these commissions and fees and redistribute according to the instructions,” Mr Salameh, 71, told Reuters, without specifying what these instructions were.
The commissions were transparent and approved by the board of the central bank, and no one raised any complaints at the time, Mr Salameh said.
BDL spokesman Halim Berti told Reuters the central bank's board could not respond to questions about its decisions as only the governor was authorised to speak on behalf of the banking regulator.
The commissions, and where they went, are the subject of investigations in Europe and Lebanon.
Swiss authorities suspect the Salameh brothers may have illegally taken more than $300 million in this way from BDL between 2002 and 2015, laundering some of the money in Switzerland, according to a letter the Swiss attorney general sent to Lebanese officials last year, Reuters said.
The Swiss attorney general's office told Reuters it is conducting a criminal investigation into suspicions of “aggravated money laundering related to alleged embezzlement offences to the detriment of BDL” but declined to comment further for this story.
Such commissions as those in the contracts seen by Reuters were paid to Forry, Mr Salameh said. He denies embezzlement, saying none of the commission money belonged to the central bank, a publicly owned institution.
He told Reuters that the commissions were paid into what he called a “clearing account” at the central bank, and then subsequently paid to Forry. He said he hired the audit firm BDO Semaan, Gholam & Co to look into the matter.
The auditor's report found that “no funds belonging to BDL went into this account”, Mr Salameh told Reuters in November. He declined to show the report to Reuters.
BDO Semaan declined to comment. However, details of the contracts, which have not previously been reported, show that the commissions were to be paid to BDL.
Three contracts, written in Arabic and printed on paper bearing the central bank's letterhead, state: “We authorise you to deduct a commission of 3/8 of 1 per cent”, where “you” refers to the central bank. In none of the contracts is Forry mentioned.
Five people who hold, or recently held, senior positions in the Lebanese financial system and had direct knowledge of such contracts told Reuters they had never heard of Forry until the Swiss investigation was reported last year.
BDL's relationship with Forry, which started in 2002, was not exclusive, Mr Salameh said. Six other companies performed similar services for the central bank, he said. Asked by Reuters, he declined to name those companies.
These are clearly public funds because if the commission wasn't paid to Forry, the central bank would have gotten a better deal
Mike Azar,
expert on Lebanon's financial system
Experts say it is not unusual for central banks to charge commissions on some transactions. However, the fee money usually goes direct to the central banks to help them to fund operations and reduce their reliance on public funding.
Sending commissions to third parties would be unusual and defeat the purpose of imposing such fees, they say.
“These are clearly public funds because if the commission wasn't paid [to Forry], the central bank would have gotten a better deal” by receiving the fee itself, said Mike Azar, an expert on Lebanon's financial system and former economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in the US.
Mr Salameh has been governor of Lebanon's central bank for 29 years. Public scrutiny of him has increased since the country's financial collapse in 2019.
Once highly regarded for his stewardship of the banking system, he is now blamed by many for the collapse and the subsequent plunge in the value of the Lebanese pound, which has effectively impoverished most Lebanese people.
Mr Salameh has denied responsibility, blaming politicians who he said oversaw decades of profligate spending.
He still has the support of some of Lebanon's most powerful politicians, including Parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Lebanese prosecutor Jean Tannous told Reuters in November he was investigating Mr Salameh on suspicion of embezzlement of public funds, illicit enrichment and money laundering. But his investigation has run into resistance.
Commercial banks have refused to give Mr Tannous access to account information he has been seeking to use as evidence, citing the country's 1950s banking secrecy laws. The banks told Mr Tannous to ask for such information from the central bank's Special Investigation Commission (SIC), which is headed by Mr Salameh himself.
Mr Tannous declined to comment for this story. The SIC did not respond to a request for comment.
Lebanon's top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat stopped Mr Tannous from attending a Paris meeting of European prosecutors in January designed to co-ordinate and share information on Mr Salameh, according to correspondence viewed by Reuters between Mr Oueidat and a member of Eurojust, the EU criminal justice agency organising the meeting.
Mr Oueidat and Eurojust declined to comment.
UNSC Elections 2022-23
Seats open:
- Two for Africa Group
- One for Asia-Pacific Group (traditionally Arab state or Tunisia)
- One for Latin America and Caribbean Group
- One for Eastern Europe Group
Countries so far running:
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Chris%20Jordan%20on%20Sanchit
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,000m, Winner: Hazeem Al Raed, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,000m, Winner: Ghazwan Al Khalediah, Hugo Lebouc, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,400m, Winner: Dinar Al Khalediah, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi.
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Faith And Fortune, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Only Smoke, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: AF Ramz, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: AF Mass, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
Results
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%3Cp%3EThe%20Punishment%20of%20Luxury%3Cbr%3EOMD%3Cbr%3E100%25%20Records%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
ARM%20IPO%20DETAILS
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Second Test, Day 2:
South Africa 335 & 75/1 (22.0 ov)
England 205
South Africa lead by 205 runs with 9 wickets remaining
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
