Luxurious offices on the prestigious Avenue des Champs-Elysees, an ex-French central banker and a mysterious Ukrainian woman in Paris. This seemingly eclectic list has a common denominator: a connection to Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh, who is suspected of having embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds.
There is a lot we know about in the French investigation into Mr Salameh in relation to multimillion-euro luxury apartments in Paris bought with funds allegedly misappropriated from Lebanon's central bank.
The assets under scrutiny include undeclared Banque du Liban offices at 66 Avenue des Champs-Elysees leased to Eciffice Business Centre for €5 million from 2011 to 2021, as revealed in French judicial documents obtained by The National.
Eciffice's manager, Anna Kosakova, a 46-year-old Ukrainian woman, is Mr Salameh's romantic partner of over two decades, with whom he has a daughter. She drew a monthly salary of €2,000 from the company.
These offices were supposed to be a “recovery centre” providing a back-up server in case of failure in the Beirut main office, but turned out to have “no operational justification”, according to the French judiciary.
But the tangled web of evidence keeps unravelling, with new information and characters coming to light.
One such figure is Christian Noyer. The former French central banker, who held the position of head of the institution from 2003 to 2015, became the subject of a separate preliminary investigation launched by the France National Financial Prosecutor's Office in April 2022 around the allegation of an illegal conflict of interest, as confirmed by a French judicial source speaking to The National.
'Lack of denunciation of the anomalies'
This is where the three threads merge.
According to the judicial documents, Mr Noyer has come under scrutiny by the French judiciary for receiving a total of €80,000 from Lebanon's central bank for consultancy services in 2018 to develop a digital currency in the country through his company Cn Europa Conseil.
Mr Noyer also allegedly failed to declare to the French central bank the consultancy services he billed to Lebanon's central bank, in violation of French law.
Former governors are required to obtain authorisation from the Banque de France to engage in any professional activities for three years after their term ends, as they continue to receive financial compensation.
The judiciary suspects that these transfers might have been used as compensation in exchange for leniency regarding the undisclosed Banque du Liban Paris offices rented to Mr Salameh's partner.
The 66 Avenue des Champs-Elysees address had indeed raised significant suspicions under French law, as Lebanese authorities were legally bound to declare the Banque du Liban offices, a requirement for any banking institution operating within the country.
However, the Banque de Francetold both the judiciary and the media that these offices were not officially registered in France.
The French judge also noticed a slew of irregularities, on top of a potential conflict of interest. The irregularities include the significantly higher prices charged to Banque du Liban – 32 per cent more than another client – as well as the near-empty state of the offices discovered during a police raid in October 2021.
“It cannot be ruled out at this stage that these payments not declared to the Banque de France” were compensating the “lack of reporting of the anomalies” related to the payments for Banque du Liban's Parisian offices, the French judge wrote in a seizing order.
The payments made from the Lebanese central bank to Eciffice should have been easily detectable, as they were done through the Banque de France.
Former French central bank governor Christian Noyer. Getty Images
Mr Noyer provided undisclosed consultancy services to other clients. These included the Bank of Beirut, which is managed by Lebanese banker Salim Sfeir, and French banking group Credit Agricole.
The value of these undeclared consultancies was a total of €198,345, according to correspondence between the Banque de France and the French judiciary seen by The National.
The same document indicates that Mr Noyer reimbursed this amount to the Banque de Franceafter the investigation into Mr Salameh exposed the truth.
The preliminary investigation is continuing.
Neither Mr Noyer nor Mr Salameh responded to The National's repeated requests for comment.
Mr Salameh has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming that no public funds were deposited into his accounts.
'You have to ask Riad Salameh'
Since it began in 2021, the French investigation into Mr Salameh has swiftly gained momentum under the supervision of judge Aude Buresi, with the issuing of an arrest warrant for the governor, closely followed by an Interpol red notice.
The French judiciary has also put three people under formal investigation – his former aide, Marianne Hoayek, Ms Kosakova, and the Lebanese banker Marwan Kheireddine.
The 66 Avenue des Champs-Elysees property is only a small part of the probe, with €5 million allegedly embezzled.
But the scheme appears to be much broader: Mr Salameh is suspected of having embezzled $330 million of public funds through his brother's company Forry, an alleged shell company that is accused of siphoning off funds through a 0.38 per cent commission levied on transactions between Lebanese banks and the central bank.
The proceeds from these commissions enabled Mr Salameh and his inner circle to amass a significant real estate portfolio across Europe, including properties valued at a minimum of €14.3 million ($15 million) in upscale neighbourhoods of Paris.
The properties have been seized by the judiciary as part of a joint anti-money laundering scheme co-ordinated by Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Co-operation.
The 66 Avenue des Champs-Elysees was leased by Riad Salameh's romantic partner to the central bank for €5 million from 2010 to 2021. Google Street View
The intricate flow of funds from the Lebanese central bank to Europe shows a complex scheme, involving “layering” operations often associated with “money laundering” practices, the French judge wrote.
In France, Ms Kosakova, whose connection with the governor and role in his dealings had remained a closely guarded secret for decades, even among those well-versed in the inner workings of the Banque du Liban, assumed a pivotal role in the Parisian purchases.
She described Mr Salameh to the French police, who quizzed her for two days in July last year, as the “love of her life”, and described a man with a “brilliant career in finance, before he became governor”, during her hearing with fraud squad detectives, which led her to be formally investigated, as first revealed by French investigative journal Mediapart in December.
Ms Kosakova said that the two met in 1999, while he was already married, two years after she completed her studies in economics in Ukraine. She said they would see each for other one week every month and still “call each other three to four times a day”, in the minutes of the hearing, seen by The National.
From 2007, the pair shared a residence in 65 Avenue Gorges Mandel, in the heart of Paris's upscale 16th arrondissement, another property suspected to have been bought with Lebanese public funds.
The same year Mr Salameh recognised as his own daughter Ms Kosakova's child E. Salameh, born in 2005.
From 2015, Ms Kosakova started to assume a central role in the two Luxembourg-based companies related to the purchases in Paris: SCI ZEL, a real estate investment company, and its parent company, BET SA, an asset management firm.
That year, she became the sole shareholder of BET SA as well the manager of SCI ZEL, previously managed by Mr Salameh's brother, who also transferred his 1 per cent stake in SCI ZEL to her.
BET SA, which owns the 99 per cent remaining, injected more than €17 million into SCI ZEL to finance the Parisian real estate acquisition.
These millions “come from Riad Salameh”, Ms Kosakova told the police.
The European judiciary managed to trace the origin of these funds back to Forry's account at Lebanon's central bank through the two Luxembourg-based companies, before reaching France.
Ms Kosakova said she never asked more about the funds' origin, which left the police perplexed, considering she had been bestowed with “a multimillion-euro fortune” without having to “pay a single penny”, they told her.
“You have to ask Riad Salameh” and " I don't know”, she repeatedly told French police, according to documents.
Ms Kosakova's account of the events did little to convince the investigators, especially considering her “knowledge in economics”, and the suspicious financial flows across countries without any apparent “economic rationale”- except perhaps to “conceal the origin of the funds or the real owner”.
She was put under formal investigation for criminal conspiracy, organised money laundering and aggravated tax fraud laundering.
Ms Kosakova did not respond to The National's request for comment.
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
Director: Romany Saad Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Baniyas Group 2 (PA) Dh 97,500 (Dirt) 1,400m.
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
W.
Wael Kfoury
(Rotana)
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine 2.4L four-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.4L/100km
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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.”
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
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
