French prosecutors have brought preliminary charges against HSBC’s Swiss unit over allegations that it helped former Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh embezzle funds, a source close to the case has confirmed to The National.
The bank faces charges in France of money laundering by an organised group and conspiracy to commit offences such as embezzlement of public funds, breach of trust or bribery of a public official.
French paper Le Monde initially reported the news. HSBC did not immediately comment.
In 2025, The National published an investigation based on leaked documents that showed how the bank failed to report suspicious transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into an account linked to Raja Salameh, the brother of Riad Salameh.
The suspicious transactions are tied to the Forry case, named after Raja's shell company, Forry Associates. International prosecutors allege the shell company was used to embezzle millions from Banque du Liban (BDL) from 2002 to 2015.
The National's investigation uncovered how the undue influence of the account’s relationship manager, a senior manager and friend of Raja Salameh, undermined the bank’s internal checks and balances.
HSBC was one of the main banks through which transactions flowed, as part of a scheme that investigators later described as typical of money-laundering operations. The proceeds were allegedly used to buy lavish properties for Riad Salameh and his relatives.
At the time, HSBC Geneva declined to comment on The National's report.
In France, the opening of a preliminary investigation means that prosecutors believe there is sufficient evidence to pursue the case. An investigating judge will then decide whether to take the case to court or dismiss it.
In March 2025, Public Eye, a Swiss NGO combating financial corruption, revealed in an in-depth investigation how HSBC’s lax anti-money laundering controls allegedly allowed the scheme to continue for more than a decade, despite multiple red flags.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority had concluded the year before that HSBC Geneva “seriously violated financial market law” in relation to the case, and banned the bank from taking on new politically exposed customers.
Since 2020, at least six European countries have also been investigating the case surrounding the former governor, including Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg.
Riad Salameh was charged in January by Lebanese prosecutors in a $44 million embezzlement case. He was accused of offences related to embezzlement, misuse of public funds and illicit enrichment.
Mr Salameh, who was the head of Banque du Liban from August 1993 until July 2023, was released on $14 million bail in September after more than a year in custody over the alleged theft of public funds. He remains in Lebanon and is subject to a travel ban.
He has been sanctioned by the US and the UK, with the US Treasury Department accusing him of abusing his position to enrich himself and his associates. He has repeatedly denied allegations against him and has said that his fortune was amassed during his previous career in finance.
Mr Salameh, who was a private banker at Merrill Lynch before becoming governor, played a key role in maintaining Lebanon’s currency peg for more than two decades before it unravelled in late 2019.
Once lauded as a financial wizard, Mr Salameh's fall from grace began after the 2019 collapse of Lebanon’s economy, which experts described as one of the largest potential nationwide Ponzi schemes, from which he and his entourage allegedly profited for years through complex financial dealings.
