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Raja Salameh, the brother of Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh, is in state custody, having been arrested Thursday on a warrant issued by Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun, a judicial source has confirmed to L'Orient Today. Raja Salameh was arrested following his interrogation at a court house east of Beirut, Judge Aoun told Reuters. Aoun has charged Raja Salameh with "complicity in illicit enrichment" that also involved his brother Riad Salameh.

In 2020, Swiss authorities launched a probe into BDL’s payment of more than $330 million in brokerage fees to Forry Associates Ltd between 2002 and 2014. Registered in the Virgin Islands in 2001, Forry Associates Ltd is owned by Raja Salameh, the governor’s younger brother.  Around $258 million out of the total $330 million were transferred to Swiss accounts allegedly belonging to Raja, of which $207 million went into his accounts in five banks in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun opened an investigation into Riad Salemeh on suspicion of fraud in the period leading up to Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse. The BDL chief has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has tried to dismiss Aoun from cases, saying she is politically motivated and biased.