A Lebanese judge told The National on Monday that she has charged central bank governor Riad Salameh and his brother with illicit enrichment.
Judge Ghada Aoun confirmed in a message that she had charged both men and that Raja Salameh, 61, remained in custody at the time of writing.
She ordered his detention on Thursday after interrogating him about his role in allegedly helping Riad to launder money through property purchases in France and Luxembourg.
Riad, 71, defended himself by referring to an audit of the central bank that he commissioned in November.
“This audit report was submitted to the relevant authorities in Lebanon and abroad,” he said in response to a question sent by text message from Reuters.
Financial experts told The National that the document, which is not public, has no legal value and that Riad handed over information of his choosing.
Riad, governor of the Banque du Liban since 1993, did not attend a hearing scheduled for Monday, and Ms Aoun charged him in absentia, Reuters reported.
Ms Aoun unsuccessfully tried to force Riad to attend a hearing after he failed to show up three times. Riad told the media that he was at home and at his office in Beirut.
He has repeatedly denied accusations of money laundering and illicit enrichment and said his personal fortune came from a past salary as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and from his inheritance.
Ms Aoun’s move on Monday was expected. She told The National on Friday that she would charge the Salameh brothers after a complaint filed by a group of lawyers last month accused them of money laundering, illicit enrichment and squandering public funds.
Without an arrest warrant, Ms Aoun cannot keep Raja in detention for more than four days.
She is expected to transfer her investigation to Mount Lebanon First Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour. Mr Mansour can release Raja or keep him in detention for up to four months, judicial sources said.
Neither Riad’s office nor Raja’s lawyer, who issued a statement on Friday denying corruption charges, responded to a request for comment from The National on Monday.
Raja is a board member of a public-private partnership that has managed central Beirut since 2012.
Raja’s detention caused shock in Lebanon, where few officials are held for corruption and the judiciary is sensitive to political pressure.
The governor has strong political support in his home country despite increasing pressure in Europe, where he is under investigation in at least five countries for money laundering. No charges have been issued outside of Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday after a meeting with Justice Minister Henri Khoury that the course of action taken by some judges – whom he did not name – was heightening tension in the country. He said he had asked public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidate to take “appropriate measures”, without detailing them.
Local television channel MTV reported that it had asked Mr Mikati what would happen if Mr Oueidate did not respond. Mr Mikati reportedly answered: “We’ll send him home.”
Lawyer Nizar Saghieh of watchdog Legal Agenda said on Twitter that Mr Mikati’s response was evidence of the lack of independence of the Lebanese judiciary from politicians.
The state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday that Mr Mikati said he did not want to “protect any sector but to preserve the balances of the country”.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Look north
BBC business reporters, like a new raft of government officials, are being removed from the national and international hub of London and surely the quality of their work must suffer.
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Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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