Riad Salameh was brought into interrogation by the French Customs in Paris-Le Bourget Airport on July 13th after he tried to bring in 90,000 Euros without declaring them as it is required by law.
The maximum amount anyone can bring in without declaring is 15,000 Euros.
In official documents from the French Customs now released by Al Akhbar, the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon told the customs officer that he was holding 15,000 euros with him, as well as 50 cigars.
He stated that he visits France 6-7 times a year to meet with Lebanese bankers “who have banks in France.”
However, upon counting the money with Salameh’s consent, the French Customs found that the total sum Salameh was carrying amounted to 84,430 Euros and the equivalent of 7,710 Euros in US Dollar bills; the total being 92,140 Euros.
When asked why he didn’t declare that he had that much total amount, he said, “Because the surplus of money in the suitcase never leaves the suitcase. I don’t verify that money. I forgot that it was there.”
When questioned about the source of that money, he said that it was his personal money, but he couldn’t provide any evidence on that. He told them he can provide it later.
Salameh was fined 2,700 Euros out of the sum that was found in the bag.
It is important to note that, in June, France launched an investigation into Riad Salameh upon allegations of money laundering and embezzlement from Banque Du Liban (BDL), and suspicious association with criminal groups.
