Illegal fund-raising trial postpones

Manama : The trial of three people, including a religious figure, charged with illegal fund-raising and money laundering case postponed to August 14, Attorney General Haroun Al Zayani said today.

The case was referred to The Criminal Court after the Public Prosecution launched intensive investigations to find out all the facts and follow up on the evidence relating to the process of how the funds were raised, collected and spent by monitoring and documenting the banking and financial movements made by the defendants.

The investigations concluded, through the robust evidence based on the testimonies of the defendants who were questioned, and of witnesses as well as on the documents gathered by the prosecution, that there were violations of the law that warranted the charges.

According to the evidence, the main defendant, the religious figure, collected funds illegally and deposited more than $10 million in his private bank accounts. He kept the rest of the cash in his possession in order to avoid legal controls. He also tried to give legitimacy to some of the money by engaging in activities that including purchasing real estate worth more than $1 million and registering the properties under his name.

He and the other two defendants engaged in depositing and withdrawing money for this purpose.

The main defendant was not questioned in view of his health condition after one of his lawyers said that he suffered indisposition.

None of the defendants was present at the public trial today even though they were all duly informed about the hearing, prompting the court to adjourn it. The defendants will be notified about the new date for the next court session.