A VERDICT was issued yesterday in the largest money-laundering case in the history of Bahrain – with multiple banks and officials found guilty of laundering more than a billion US dollars.
Future Bank and 12 other banks – including the Central Bank of Iran – have been implicated in the scandal.
Attorney General Dr Ali Al Buainain yesterday revealed that the High Criminal Court has convicted and sentenced five Iranian Future Bank officials to 10 years behind bars in absentia, while the sixth defendant – a Bahraini who was present – was sentenced to five years.
“In addition to the jail term, the officials were each fined BD1 million. The Central Bank of Iran along with other banks involved were also fined BD1m each,” he said in an official statement yesterday.
“A total of $148,170,818.039, 967,937,627.013 euros, 53,350,000 UAE dirhams and 235,093,250,000 Iranian riyals were also confiscated.”
Investigations revealed that the Central Bank of Iran planned to launder billions of dollars through the Future Bank that was established in Bahrain.
It was controlled by two Iranian banks, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat, with the aim of facilitating dubious financial transactions in favour of Iranian entities in violation of laws and regulations.
“The Public Prosecution had previously announced that its investigators revealed a huge scheme to launder billions of dollars through the Future Bank which was established in Bahrain and controlled by two Iranian banks owned by Iran,” added Dr Al Buainain.
“It was done in order to pass suspicious financial transactions for the benefit of those entities in violation of laws and regulations.
“The intensive investigation revealed banking practices that were conducted in violation of the law.
“It was proven that the Central Bank of Iran issued instructions to the Future Bank regarding the use of an alternative unapproved transfer system to complete banking operations, and conceal the source of movement of funds transferred through it for the benefit of Iranian banks.”
He also added that they circumvented international sanctions imposed on Iranian entities, in the field of banking transactions, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to Dr Al Buainain, they took advantage of the control Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat had on Future Bank’s operations in addition to directing its policies in adherence to the government of Iran and the Central Bank of Iran.
The GDN previously reported that the Public Prosecution referred to court several cases related to Future Bank and other Iranian banks on money laundering crimes and violations of the Central Bank Law.
A 2018 assessment of Future Bank’s operations by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) found that the entity and its controlling stakeholders had engaged in systematic and wide-scale violations of Bahrain’s banking law.
Subsequent interviews with Future Bank employees and a review of tens of thousands of Future Bank documents were undertaken by the CBB, the Interior Ministry’s financial investigation unit and independent international regulatory experts and forensic analysts.
reem@gdn.com.bh
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