Qassim held BD5m in bank accounts

Manama : Top cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, who is stripped off citizenship for promoting sectarianism and violence in the Kingdom, held four bank accounts for a total amount exceeding BD5 million, according to a report submitted by Central Bank of Bahrain to the High Criminal Court. The report, prepared by the court, showed that the cleric withdrew BD1,961,000. 

Qassim is currently being tried along with two other men, one of them being Hussain Al Qassab.  And the report indicated that the latter had withdrawn BD576,000 from four accounts. 

All the accounts were in Future Bank, which was ordered to be dissolved in the wake of the Kingdom’s decision to cut ties with Iran. 

The bank accounts were having a total amount of BD3,367,000 which has been frozen, pending trial. The High Criminal Court adjourned the case until January 30 for the closing arguments to be submitted.

 The trio are standing trial in connection with raising funds illegally and financing foreign organisations hostile to Bahrain. The public prosecution earlier revealed that the trio had been depositing money three to four times per day, with their total number of deposits they made reached 656 times from July 2011 until the public prosecution warrant against them issued earlier last year.  

“The defendants were depositing small sums daily to avoid suspicions. They made sure that the total deposited amount didn’t exceed BD6000 per day,” the witness revealed. 

It’s worth noting that 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 to this point. According to court files, Isa Qassim was the one who instructed the duo to raise the funds. And he was the only decision-maker in the spending process, according to his co-defendants’ statements during questioning.