Court of Appeal adjourns appeal hearing of 22 defendants convicted in drug trafficking money laundering case | THE DAILY TRIBUNE

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Court of Appeal has adjourned hearing the appeals of 22 people convicted of laundering money from a drug trafficking operation worth 8 million Bahraini dinars. The hearing was postponed until July 1.

Among the 22 accused are two Bahrainis and 20 Asians. They were each sentenced to five years in prison, fined 100,000 Bahraini dinars and confiscated more than 11.7 million Bahraini dinars in assets.

Foreign nationals will also be deported from Bahrain after serving their sentences.

The case unfolded following a report received from the National Center for Financial Investigations, which detailed the investigation into the defendants' receipt and subsequent laundering of money obtained through drug trafficking.

The defendants allegedly routed the illicit funds through their bank accounts and then converted them into digital currencies using peer-to-peer (P2P) digital trading platforms, all in an attempt to disguise the origin of the money and give it a veneer of legitimacy.

Upon receipt of the report, the prosecution began a thorough investigation, taking steps to uncover and freeze accounts belonging to the defendants.

They meticulously tracked the movement of funds, scrutinizing their source and destination. The testimonies were recorded and the accused were questioned and confronted with the evidence against them.

The investigation revealed that the main defendant received more than 6 million dinars from the second defendant through different bank accounts.

The accused made numerous transfers and transactions between their accounts, ultimately purchasing digital currencies and sending them overseas.

A careful analysis of the accounts of defendants two through twenty-second revealed that they received the monies accumulated through the drug trafficking operation.

These funds were then transferred to the main defendants and other unidentified individuals with the aim of converting them into digital currency and sending them abroad.

Bank statements showed that the total amount transferred exceeded 8 million dinars.

The prosecution charged the defendants, including the main defendant and other individuals who have not yet been identified, with money laundering.

It is alleged that between 2022 and 2023, the main defendant committed the offense of money laundering, amounting to 3,612,160 dinars and 90 fils, by receiving funds from the second to the twenty-second defendant.

The main accused engaged in transfers between bank accounts and then purchased digital currencies to transfer them out of the Kingdom of Bahrain, all with the aim of concealing the illicit origin of the funds and presenting them as legitimately obtained.

The defendants, from the second to the twenty-second, were charged with being an organized criminal gang involved in the illegal trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances.

They are accused of having committed the crime of money laundering using proceeds from illegal drug trafficking activities, amounting to 8 million dinars.

They carried out banking transactions with these funds and then transferred part of them to the first defendant and the rest to unidentified people.