Appeals begin for 22 ‘money launderers’

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Appeals Court commenced hearing of the appeals of 22 individuals convicted of money laundering funds derived from a drug trafficking operation worth BD8 million.

Among the 22 defendants are two Bahrainis and 20 Asians. They were sentenced to five years in prison each, fined BD100,000 and ordered to forfeit over BD11.7 million in assets.

The foreign nationals will also be deported from Bahrain after serving their sentences.

The case unfolded following a report received from the National Centre for Financial Investigations, which detailed the investigation into the defendants’ receipt and subsequent laundering of money obtained through drug trafficking.

The accused allegedly funneled the illicit funds through their bank accounts and further converted them into digital currencies using peerto-peer (P2P) digital trading platforms, all in an attempt to obfuscate the money’s origin and provide it with a veneer of legitimacy.

Promptly upon receiving the report, the prosecution initiated a thorough investigation, undertaking measures to uncover and freeze the accounts belonging to the accused.