In what “foolishness” did Lebanese actress Stephanie Saliba engage for a public prosecutor, Judge Ghada Aoun, and numerous media figures close to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to condemn her all at once? 

The actress, the banker, his wife, and the judge are the main protagonists  in this non thrilling tale currently unfolding in Lebanon. Other characters include media professionals, journalists and a security official. 

According to the media, the story furthermore features a private plane, which flew Saliba from the Gulf to Lebanon, as well as homes, jewelry and private properties. 

But most interesting is how the tale’s main protagonist,Saliba, transformed from being the governor’s “courtesan” into his journalists’ “victim,” while the judge has become a wailing wall for the wife, who was not duped, despite her husband being “a womanizer,” as one journalist claimed. 

When we compare the value of the presents Saliba received with the fortune the governor has amassed, she is only a modest beneficiary. And unlike the governor’s former assistant, 2003 Miss Lebanon contestant Marianne Hoayek, Saliba does not own any offshore firms.. 

Although she was able to send $500,000 to her foreign bank account, it pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions that were transferred out of the country, part of which has been unequivocally proven. Saliba might act as a mirror reflecting the corrupters’ nastiness and some of the trends that developed as part of the corruption pandemic of the past three decades. 

The real narrative is what the characters show us behind the scenes: a central bank governor who is a “womanizer” according to his journalist pals, a wife who discovered she was “deceived” after years of enjoying the benefits of “deception,” and TV networks running campaigns defending the governor facing the actress and the judge. 

The public official Riad Salameh is furthermore protected by the entire political class. He is shielded by the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.  

When it comes to MP and head of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil – subjugated by the sword of “his” Judge Ghada Aoun – he had previously vowed for the renewal of the bank governor’s term, during which Salameh carried out his devilish “financial engineering” plan. In exchange Bassil received a piece of the engineering pie for Cedrus Bank, which is linked to his wife’s sister.

So, Saliba is only a minor if suspenseful aspect in the governor’s larger tale. The truly sobering details are found elsewhere. 

Nothing is likely to condemn the actress. Receiving presents is not against the law. And the transfer she made – if the rumors are true – was done from one of her accounts to another, while the banks’ “capital control” system [setting withdrawal and transfer limits] was clearly unlawful.

Salameh is no longer fit to play any role besides what is doing now! He wants nothing more than to splurge his wealth on attractive young women and tax havens. Still, it is legitimate to give him the title “model son of the Lebanese regime,” as he was the usurper hired to clean up the sectarian state’s financial “policy.” 

In addition, despite the banks’ “capital control” system, he transferred millions of dollars from his son’s account to a foreign bank owned by his friend Marwan Kheiredine. And he did not think twice about pressuring his brother to create a firm to which he transferred $300 million from the central bank’s coffers. 

Again, Saliba is only an extra in the whole scene. The actress most certainly decided to tell the judge what she thought would rescue her: that her money was nothing more than the governor’s gifts and that she did not break the law.

This is exactly what Anna Kosakova, Salameh’s ex-lover and the mother of his daughter, did when French public prosecutor Aude Boursier asked her about the three houses registered in her name through several front companies, according to documents recently uncovered and published. 

In addition, it appears that Nada Salameh, the governor’s wife, decided  to abandon the sinking ship when questioned by Judge Ghada Aoun. She told her all about what was really no longer a secret regarding the (female) fronts for the governor’s many financial operations.

Yet, Riad Salameh continues to enjoy Lebanese protection. The real story is not about Saliba or any other woman, but revolves around him owning the regime’s financial secrets, as he most likely documented them. And he has warned all those concerned that lifting his protection would mean disclosing all those secrets. 

At that point, Saliba will truly prove to be but a minor detail. And at that point, we will hear the in-depth story regarding Lebanon’s collapse.