Oil executive jailed for laundering millions

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Cassation Court has upheld the imprisonment of an employee at Bahrain’s leading petroleum company, convicted of laundering nearly half a million Bahraini dinars.

The employee has been sentenced to four years in prison and fined BD100,000, along with his private company used in the crime, with each fined BD100,000.

The Kingdom’s highest court has also ordered the seizure of approximately half a million Bahraini dinars from him.

The Public Prosecution announced earlier completing its investigation into the report submitted by the Anti-Corruption Crimes Department at the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption, Economic and Electronic Security regarding the findings of its probing into the complaint filed by the company.

Violations and abuses

The investigations revealed that the accused committed several violations and abuses while performing his job.

The Public Prosecution has taken its measures by questioning the investigators and officials of the company, examining the lawsuit documents, and discussing with the officials of the contracted companies.

The investigations have proven that the accused exploited his position to obtain confidential information regarding the shortage of maintenance needs in the warehouses and used this information to his advantage by establishing a company specifically for the purpose of supplying these needs.

Purchase and supply

He then instructed the contracted companies to purchase and supply these needs exclusively through his company, claiming that it offered the best available offers, in violation of the established rules and procedures.

The financial analysis report prepared by the National Center for Financial Investigations confirmed that the accused himself, through his company, engaged in money laundering of the illicit proceeds from the aforementioned crimes, which amounted to BD445,129.290.

He conducted multiple operations of transfer, withdrawal, deposit, and purchase to conceal the nature and source of the funds.

As a result, his accounts have been frozen, his assets seized, and he has been interrogated and confronted with verbal and technical evidence against him.