The Munich public prosecutor’s office is currently working on a spectacular case of international money laundering, as the authority confirmed on Tuesday. In response to a request for legal assistance from the Lebanese Public Prosecutor General’s Office, the Munich prosecutors are also investigating the long-time head of the Lebanese Central Bank, Riad S., his brother Raja S. and a woman named Marianne H. with French-Lebanese nationality. In his home country of Lebanon, Riad S. is accused of embezzling at least $330 million over a period of at least 13 years, between 2002 and 2015. Part of the money is said to have flowed into European real estate, including in Munich. This results in the local jurisdiction of the Munich prosecutors.
As prosecutor Ambika Zeeb confirmed on Tuesday, assets worth around 150 million euros were seized two years ago in a concerted operation with investigative authorities from France and Luxembourg. In Germany, three high-quality commercial properties with a total value of 28 million euros were confiscated, one in Hamburg and two in Munich. The Munich buildings were said to be in top locations. There are also shares in a property company in Düsseldorf worth seven million euros.
Last year, a European delegation, which included Zeeb, visited Lebanon around half a dozen times to inspect files and question the former head of the “Banque Du Liban” as well as accused relatives and witnesses. Even the state’s acting finance minister testified, Zeeb reported. In the almost bankrupt Mediterranean state, the embezzlement of this large sum is a major domestic political issue. Riad and Raja S. deny the allegations against them.
Nevertheless, the Munich district court issued an arrest warrant against Riad S. in May 2023, as the Munich I public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday. Since then, the man has been wanted internationally; Of course, he is still at large in his homeland. Despite the investigations that began in 2021 into suspicion of serious embezzlement of public funds and the assets seized abroad a year later, he held the office of central bank chief until the end of July 2023 – exactly 30 years to the day.
Because Lebanon does not extradite its citizens, Riad S. can only be tried in Germany or another European country if he turns himself in voluntarily. However, this is not to be expected. However, it is possible to permanently confiscate the confiscated assets. On the other hand, cash-strapped Lebanon has a great interest in getting the embezzled money back, but the case against S. and his relatives there is currently on hold for formal reasons, Ambika Zeeb reported. There is no agreement between Lebanon and Germany on what happens to confiscated values in such cases; This must therefore be explicitly negotiated.
The Munich public prosecutor nevertheless described the investigation as a “really complete success” within the framework of international cooperation. The judicial authorities in France and Luxembourg had also initiated proceedings against Riad S. after they had been asked for legal assistance by the Lebanese authorities. The international action was then coordinated by the European judicial authority Eurojust, based in The Hague. A joint investigation group, or GEG for short, was set up there.
Part of the allegedly embezzled sum was initially channeled to Switzerland via a shell company in the British Virgin Islands and from there invested in real estate throughout Europe, including in Germany. The Swiss bank, which first became suspicious and reported it to the Lebanese authorities, recorded more than 300 incoming payments over 13 years.
As the responsible public prosecutor Sina Tarantik explained, the Munich I public prosecutor’s office processes up to 2,000 legal assistance cases every year. “It always goes both ways,” she said. The requests go abroad from Munich, but the majority – around three quarters – come from there to the Bavarian capital. There is a separate legal aid department there that supports a total of 180 public prosecutors. It’s “unique,” says Tarantik. Since criminals are using the increased freedom of movement in Europe for their own purposes, requests for legal assistance are becoming increasingly important.