Once feted as a financial wizard, Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh leaves the post he has held for 30 years on Monday, his legacy stained by the devastating collapse of Lebanon's banking sector and corruption charges at home and abroad.
Widely viewed as the linchpin of the financial system until it imploded in 2019, Salameh saw his standing crumble as the meltdown impoverished many Lebanese and froze most savers out of their deposits in the once sprawling banking sector.
In May, French and German authorities issued warrants for his arrest. Interpol Red Notices declared him wanted by both countries. The one issued at the request of France cites charges including organised money laundering. The one issued at Germany's request also cites a charge of money laundering. This image set him apart from the ruling politicians, many of them militia leaders from Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war - although he enjoyed high-level backing from them.
Savers enjoyed high interest rates, able to convert their pounds into dollars at a fixed exchange rate which Salameh maintained from 1997 until the collapse. Salameh kept the system afloat in 2016 by siphoning off dollars from local banks at high interest rates. Critics described this as a "Ponzi scheme" as it depended on fresh borrowing to pay back existing debt.
"He leaves behind a shattered institution that will have to be restructured given losses of some $76 billion at the BDL," said Nasser Saidi, a former economy minister and central bank vice governor.
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