Witnesses to testify in BD1.5m money laundering case

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Criminal Court summoned prosecution witnesses to testify in a case, which accuses a 37-year-old Bahraini man and an Arab national of laundering BD1.5 million. Court files say the Bahraini man embezzled the money from 23 others by hoodwinking them into thinking that he owns companies specialised in providing commercial and technological consultations.

Investigators found the suspects were using an account in the name of a company owned by the Arab man in his home country for laundering the amounts collected from the victims. To avoid suspicion and to transfer the amount, the pair also signed a recruitment agreement.

Victims, court files say, are all occupying high-ranking positions. During interrogation, one of the victims told the court: “The defendant came to me and requested me to borrow BD13000, although I didn’t know him.

He managed to convince me that my father was his friend and he was trustworthy. After three days, I gave him BD3000.” “After a few days, he came back to me and gave me the BD3000 back, but he offered me to invest the money with great returns. This time I gave him BD84,000. It was a trap,” he added. The suspects, investigators found, followed the same trick with all other victims.

Police found that the man was offering investing services without having a valid license to operate in that capacity in the Kingdom. The suspects were running the fraudulent scheme from their homes.