BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s foreign minister held talks Monday with the Swiss ambassador to Beirut after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at the Mideast country’s central bank. Switzerland’s attorney general said last week he has asked Lebanon for cooperation into the probe, without offering further details. Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh denied last week he had made any transfers of the bank’s funds. A government-commissioned international audit of the central bank faltered after the New York-based company hired to do it said it was unable to acquire needed information and documents. Salameh, who has held the central bank post since 1993, has defended his role, alleging a systematic campaign meant to hold him responsible for the country’s financial crisis.

Source: Egypt Independent January 25, 2021 17:03 UTC