The Special Investigation Commission of the Bank of Lebanon requested banks and financial institutions operating in Lebanon to provide, within one week, detailed information on accounts, financial transactions, safes and other banking relationships linked directly or indirectly to eleven persons and two companies. The document, dated 21 September 2026 and consulted by Libnanews, is based on a decision taken three days earlier. It includes the former Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salamé, his brother Raja Salamé, Marianne Hoayek, the former President of Bank Audi Samir Hanna, and Hassan Moukalled and the company CTEX.
The scope of the request to the Lebanese banking sector is particularly wide. In an official letter dated21 september 2026, theSpecial Commission of Inquiry, attached to the Bank of Lebanon (BDL), asks banks and financial institutions to look for accounts, operations, police or safes belonging to a number of natural and legal persons.
The document is headed by the Special Investigation Commission to combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is signed by its Secretary-General,Abdel Hafiz Mansour.
This approach takes place on the basis of a Commission decision dated18 september 2026, explicitly mentioned in the mail.
Special Inquiry Commission sets one week deadline
The request requires the institutions concerned to respondwithin one week of receipt of the mail.
They must indicate whether they hold or have held accounts, transactions or other financial relations related to the listed persons and companies. The text also refers to relations held indirectly, individually or jointly.
The wording chosen does not therefore limit the search to accounts opened directly on behalf of the persons concerned. It requires financial institutions to verify their data in order to identify possible indirect or joint relationships.
The mail also asks to take into accountclosed accounts. Movements related to safes must also be sought.
Where a banking relationship is identified, the institution must forward the relevant documents to the Commission. In particular, the text requires statements of accounts and available documents concerning the transactions concerned.
Information should be provided in electronic format, with an account-by-account summary. In particular, the Commission calls forAccount Summary Sheetand tables in Excel format.
The purpose of this collection is to provide the investigative body with a consolidated view of the financial relations associated with the persons sought, beyond a particular institution.
Riad Salamé, Raja Salamé and Marianne Hoayek concerned
The list contained in the document includes:11 natural persons and 2 companies.
Among them appearsRiad Salamé, former Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, and his brotherRaja SalaméandMarianne Hoayek, former senior contributor to the central bank.
These three names have already been mentioned in several judicial proceedings and financial investigations in Lebanon and Europe involving operations carried out during the years when Riad Salamé was the head of the Bank of Lebanon.
Their presence in this new bank application, however, does not in itself make it possible to draw a conclusion on criminal responsibility. The document sent to banks is a measure of information gathering. This is not a guilty judgment in the exhibit.
This distinction is important while several information published this week indicates, at the same time, freezing measures concerning all or part of the persons mentioned. The letter of 21 September presented here specifically concernsa request for bank information and transmission of documents.
Hassan Moukalled and CTEX are also on the list
The Special Commission of Inquiry also quotesHassan Ahmad Moukaledand societyCTEX Company for Exchange SAL, lebanese exchange company.
The name Hassan Moukalled and that of CTEX had already been the subject of a decision by the Special Commission of Inquiry in January 2023. At that time, the Bank of Lebanon had announced the freezing of accounts after they had been included in a sanctions list of the United States Treasury Department.
The decision of January 2023 concerned Hassan Moukalled, his sons Rani and Rayane Moukalled, CTEX and another company. Hassan Moukalled had challenged the American accusations and announced that he wanted to initiate legal proceedings.
The new September 2026 document is therefore part of a file for Hassan Moukalled and CTEX that had already led to banking measures in Lebanon more than three years earlier.
Two other names,André Samir MachnukandBachir Ibrahim Mansourappear in the request of 21 september.
Samir Hanna among the persons concerned
Mail also quotesSamir Nicolas Hanna, former chairman of the board of directors ofBank Audi.
Its name appears in a context where the Lebanese judicial authorities are examining several financial transactions carried out during the period when Riad Salamé was managing the Bank of Lebanon.
Separate procedures have covered financial mechanisms and relations between the central bank and certain banks or bank managers. The presence of Samir Hanna in the mail now means that the banks and financial institutions receiving the information must search for and transmit the information within the scope defined by the Commission.
Again, this documentary request does not in itself constitute a conviction. It enables the Special Investigation Commission to trace financial relations and gather the documents necessary to examine the files concerned.
A company registered in Panama in the application
The list also includesV Limited Investment Inc, presented in the document as a corporation incorporated inPanama 30 August 2017.
The mail also associates with this part of the fileBassem Mahmoud Al-Hout.
According to reports published in the Lebanese press, this company and some related operations are part of the elements examined in financial records concerning the Riad Salamé period at the head of the Bank of Lebanon.
However, the Commission does not detail in the letter of 21 September the individual reasons justifying the presence of each person or company. It asks financial institutions to search for the corresponding banking relationships and to transmit the elements.
This limitation of the document must be retained: the list sets out the scope of the bank search, but it does not contain a statement of the charges against each name.
Alaa Al-Khawaja and Mohammad Al-Hariri also cited
Two others are listed in the document:Alaa Mahmoud Abdel Rahman Al-KhawajaandMohammad Ahmad Mokhtar Al-Hariri.
Their names have been associated in the Lebanese press with investigations into financial transactions and the acquisition of holdings in the banking sector, in particular aroundBankMed.
In recent months, the Lebanese judicial authorities have taken various steps in cases relating to financial transactions carried out in the period prior to the bank collapse in 2019.
The letter from the Special Commission of Inquiry now adds a precise documentary dimension: banks must check their archives and report relations corresponding to the criteria set by the Commission.
Samara Kazzi completes the list
The last name in the document is that ofSamara Kazzi, a journalist and banker currently based in Switzerland.
Its inclusion in this request has attracted special attention in several Lebanese media. However, the information published on the precise reasons for its presence in the file remains fragmented.
The official document consulted does not make a detailed accusation against him. It simply places it among those for whom the Commission is seeking bank research.
A collection that goes back several years
The historical depth required of banks is one of the important aspects of mail.
The Commission is not only asking for a current photograph of the assets. It seeks data to reconstruct the history of the banking relationship concerned, including when accounts have been closed.
This approach can be used to trace flows, identify counterparties and compare transactions recorded in several institutions. It can also highlight financial relations that are no longer active today.
The request for Excel files and standardized summary sheets makes it easier to reconcile information from different banks.
The Special Investigation Commission has a central role in the Lebanese anti-money-laundering and financing of terrorism. It receives and analyses financial information and may intervene in cases requiring the examination of data covered by bank secrecy, under the conditions laid down in Lebanese law.
In this case, the next immediate step depends on the responses of the receiving banks and financial institutions. They have one week after receipt of the mail to indicate any identified relationships and to transmit the requested documents.
