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Ponzi Allegations
Following the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, the Banque du Liban deposits declined by $31bn in one year, and the loan portfolio of lenders fell by $18bn, putting the country’s its first financial crisis in three decades, leading many to speculate about the Ponzi scheme that Riad ran for over 30 years.

"At the root of the economic grievances fueling Lebanon’s mass protests lies what looks like a regulated Ponzi scheme." "We should replace this Madoffian economic model with a modern, knowledge-based economy that creates high-quality jobs, especially for our underutilized youth."

This was alluded to in a 2018 An-Nahar article "Dissecting deposits: The case of Lebanon’s missing $70 Billion" arguing that most of the deposits in Lebanese banks were unaccounted for. It was also alluded to in another article that same year, after a new novelty "fresh dollar" was introduced by the Lebanese banking cartel. "Of course, there’s one thing I haven’t figured out yet. If this is what a fresh dollar is, then does that mean that the other dollars are rotten?"

Despite the governor's attempt to deny the Ponzi allegations, shifting the blame on political corruption, French president Emmanuel Macron compared Lebanon’s banking system to a “Ponzi scheme”, calling for more transparency in a financial system shrouded by secrecy laws.

Corruption allegations
In July 2020, a group of Lebanese lawyers formally accused Salamé of various crimes, including the embezzlement of central bank assets, and the mismanagement of public funds. On 20 July, Lebanese judge Faisal Makki ordered a protective freeze on some of Salamé's assets after ruling in favour of a complaint that he had allegedly undermined the financial standing of the state. An October hearing date has been set.

Overseas investments
In August 2020, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported that offshore companies owned by Salamé had overseas assets worth nearly US$100 million, primarily real estate, mostly in the United Kingdom, and also in Germany and Belgium.