Lebanon's appellate prosecutor has moved to advance a stalled investigation into businessman Alaa al-Khawaja's 2017 acquisition of a stake in Bank Med, as al-Khawaja has left for Jordan and co-defendant Mohammad al-Hariri remains in London.
The investigation centres on the source of funds al-Khawaja used to acquire Ayman al-Hariri's stake in GroupMed Holding, the parent company of Bank Med, in a transaction valued at approximately 535 million dollars executed through his company OLT Holding SAL. The deal gave al-Khawaja a 42.2 per cent shareholding in the group.
Prosecutors are examining the origin of the financing, the nature of the transaction's funding and facilities, the role of the central bank during former governor Riad Salameh's tenure, and whether the transaction complied with banking and credit law.
Al-Khawaja is central to the inquiry not merely as an investor but as the party who executed a transaction of hundreds of millions of dollars and will be required to provide documented answers about the sources of funds, the movement of money and obligations arising from the deal.
Mohammad al-Hariri was chairman of the board of both Bank Med and GroupMed Holding when the transaction took place, placing him in a crucial position to reveal the circumstances and mechanics of the acquisition and the parties involved in arranging and financing it.
The prosecutor has set a court date for the coming month. Since both men are outside Lebanon, international judicial cooperation channels will be used to formally notify them of the hearing and their obligation to appear.
Under Lebanese criminal procedure law, their absence does not constitute refusal to appear unless they have been properly served. If the court cannot reach them, it must first determine their residence and complete notification procedures through authorities in Jordan and Britain.
Should they be properly served and fail to appear without lawful excuse, the investigating judge may issue an arrest warrant under article 106 of the criminal procedure code, or may do so if he has serious grounds to fear they will flee.
If the judge deems either man to be absconding, article 107 permits issuing a reasoned order for arrest in absentia. When an arrest warrant is issued, Lebanon may request its distribution through Interpol to locate and temporarily detain the accused pending extradition proceedings.
Interpol does not serve routine appearance notices, and circulation of a warrant through Interpol does not guarantee automatic arrest or extradition. The country in which the wanted person is located applies its own law and decides whether to arrest and extradite them to Lebanon.
Riad Salameh has not yet been questioned in this specific file despite the central bank's significant role in the transactions under investigation, reflecting delays in the inquiry that the prosecutor's legal framework is now intended to overcome.
