Shafaq News/ French prosecutors intend to charge the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, with forgery and money laundering, according to documents sent to Salameh by French judicial authorities.

The accusations, which include using false bank statements, will be formally presented during a hearing scheduled for May 16 in France.

Salameh has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer has said that he has not yet decided whether to travel to France to attend the hearing. Salameh claims he has become a "scapegoat" for those responsible for the financial crisis that hit Lebanon in 2019.

As part of a joint investigation with prosecutors in Lebanon and at least four other European countries, French prosecutors suspect that Salameh conspired with his brother Raja to divert over $300 million in public funds, using some of the money to purchase real estate across Europe. Both Riad and Raja Salameh have denied transferring any public funds.

French and other European investigators, who questioned Salameh in Beirut last month, believe that most of his wealth comes from public funds that he transferred to his account. In response to the allegations, Salameh sent a 65-page note to representatives of the French prosecutor through Marwan Khair El-Din, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese Mawarid Bank. The document includes a series of bank statements one of Salameh's lawyers said showed how the central bank governor's savings increased from $15 million in 1993 to over $150 million by 2019, as he "capitalized interest."

However, according to documents submitted to a French court, French investigators have concluded that the bank account statements were forged. The documents state that Salameh "used forged records of bank accounts at Al-Mawarid Bank... presented by Marwan Khair El-Din to justify the source of his property or revenue through deception."

Khair El-Din was interrogated in France this month on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and money laundering, and his lawyer has denied any wrongdoing.

French prosecutors wrote after Salameh's interrogation in Beirut that he "is unable to justify the various loans and investments that enabled him to increase his wealth by more than 250 million euros (at a minimum) during this period."

Salameh claims that his wealth came from the prudent management of savings he had accumulated as an investment banker. French authorities have ordered Khair El-Din not to leave the country and have confiscated his passport.