Lebanese authorities and a European judicial team on Tuesday agreed to exchange information about their separate corruption probes of Lebanon's Central Bank governor, officials said, the Associated Press reported. The announcement came during a visit by a European delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in an ongoing investigation of Governor Riad Salameh and associates over several financial crimes. The officials met after Raja Salameh, the brother of the 72-year-old embattled governor, did not attend a scheduled hearing on Tuesday morning, citing an illness, Lebanese judicial officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. The governor and his brother are accused of embezzlement, money laundering, and illicit enrichment. The European delegation first visited Lebanon in January to interrogate Riad Salameh and others from Lebanon’s financial and banking sector, including some of the governor's close associates, in an ongoing probe into the laundering of some $330 million. The three European governments in March 2022 froze more than $130 million in assets linked to the investigation.
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