Two buildings bought by cleric using illegal money

Manama : An infamous cleric, who is under trial for  illegal fund-raising and money-laundering, purchased two buildings worth BD500,000 and BD560,000, a public prosecution witness confirmed yesterday. 

Isa Qassim is standing trial with two other men in connection with raising funds illegally and financing foreign organisations hostile to Bahrain. During yesterday’s hearing, the public prosecution revealed that the trio had been depositing money three to four times per day, with their total number of deposits reaching 656 from July 2011, till the date of issuing warrant.

“The defendants were depositing small sums daily to avoid suspicions. They made sure that the total amount  deposited didn’t exceed BD6,000 per day,” the witness revealed. 

Isa Qassim hasn’t appeared in any of the hearings of this case, and only one of his co-defendants, Hussain Al Qassab, has appeared.

 The duo also said that Isa Qassim had used some of the money in buying $1 million worth of properties that were registered under his name.

Public prosecution said earlier that a sum of $10,000,000 was found deposited in his bank account during investigations.