Paris (France) (AFP) – The investigation into Lebanese ill-gotten gains took on a new dimension with the indictment in May in Paris of the Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC, suspected of having helped the former governor of the country's central bank Riad Salamé to embezzle funds.

Published on: 04/06/2026 - 18:03

The bank is being prosecuted for organized gang money laundering and criminal conspiracy to commit crimes such as embezzlement of public funds, breach of trust or corruption of a public official, AFP learned Thursday from the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), confirming information from Le Monde.

The bank had to pay 80 million euros in security, in particular due to possible future damages and interest to be paid, according to the same source.

"We are unable to comment on a legal matter. The investigation is ongoing and we continue to cooperate," said HSBC, interviewed by AFP.

The French investigation was opened in July 2021, for organized gang money laundering and criminal association, in parallel with European or Lebanese investigations.

In May 2023, a French judge issued an international arrest warrant against Riad Salamé, suspected of having built up a rich real estate and banking heritage in Europe and the United States via a complex financial arrangement, a massive embezzlement of Lebanese public funds and the complicity of numerous protagonists.

“Restitution”

Governor of the Central Bank from 1993 to July 2023, Riad Salamé, who was closely linked to the political class, is accused by his detractors of being one of the main responsible for Lebanon's financial collapse.

Riad Salamé is not indicted because he did not respond to the summons of the French judges. Lebanon refuses to extradite its nationals.

His brother Raja Salamé was indicted in August 2024 in Paris and placed under judicial supervision.

Both deny any wrongdoing.

Several other people are being prosecuted in France, such as Mr. Salamé's former assistant at the Bank of Lebanon, a nephew of the latter or the former minister Marwan Kheireddine.

The indictment of HSBC "constitutes an important step for the prospects of restitution and reparation for the benefit of the Lebanese people, severely affected by one of the most serious crises in its recent history", underlined to AFP Me Chanez Mensous, responsible for corruption issues within this NGO.

It “illustrates the scale and scope of the litigation initiated by Sherpa in 2021”, she noted, estimating that “the search for responsibilities must extend to all the actors who may have contributed to the circulation and concealment of these funds”.

“Decisive breakthrough”

“This is a decisive step forward which fully restores the responsibility of the bank in a mafia enterprise to the detriment of the Lebanese people,” reacted to AFP William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, lawyers from the Collective of Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal Practices in Lebanon (CVPFCL) and Sherpa.

Riad Salamé, a 75-year-old former Franco-Lebanese investment banker, was held in pre-trial detention in Lebanon for a year before being released last September, paying a record bail of more than $14 million.

In Beirut, the courts ordered a trial against him in January, suspecting him of having embezzled 44 million dollars, according to a Lebanese judicial source.

Contacted by AFP, his lawyers, Mes Pierre-Olivier Sur, Sofia Bougrine and Clara Gérard-Rodriguez, explained to AFP that Riad Salamé was not indicted, they did not have "access to the investigation file, unlike (their) colleagues intervening in defense or for the civil parties": "Under these conditions, it is difficult for us to comment on acts", as for HSBC.

According to his advice, "Riad Salamé's real estate assets were built up a long time ago, thanks to the very significant remuneration he received as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, before his appointment at the Banque du Liban." “We have transmitted the proof to the investigating judges,” they assured.

His lawyers also deemed it "indispensable that the French investigating judges suspend their investigations" until his trial in Lebanon.

The Bank of Lebanon has become a civil party in the French investigation.

© 2026 AFP

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