Lebanon’s finance minister questioned in Central Bank probe

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese judicial officials say a European judicial team has questioned Lebanon’s caretaker finance minister. Friday’s questioning of Youssef El Khalil is part of a probe by a delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg related to corruption probes of the country’s Central Bank governor. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is being investigated abroad over several financial crimes and the laundering of some $330 million. The three European governments in March 2022 froze more than $130 million in assets linked to the investigation. A former central bank official since 1982, El Khalil was last the executive director of the central bank’s financial operations department.