The French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) has launched a preliminary investigation into possible “embezzlement” and “illegal gains” by the family of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, French Libération newspaper reported.
According to the paper, since 2005 the family purchased apartments in expensive districts of Paris near the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe, worth several million euros.
Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the late president’s eldest son, is reported to have been part of a property company created for the transactions.
Libération reported that €30 million was transferred from Sanaa to an account opened by Saleh’s son under another name in a Paris bank.
Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh was a former commander of the Yemeni Republican Guard, and served as the country’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. In 2015, the United Nations Security Council and the US Treasury Department froze his assets.
Former President Saleh ruled Yemen for more than three decades, before ceding power in February 2012 to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, after more than a year of popular protests. He was assassinated in December 2017.
