Bahraini Prosecution Sends Major Iran Money Laundering Case To Court - Attorney General

Bahrain's prosecution on Thursday submitted to the court a case involving several people accused of laundering billions of dollars for Iran through the Manama-based Future Bank, Attorney General Ali bin Fadhel Al-Buainain said

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) Bahrain's prosecution on Thursday submitted to the court a case involving several people accused of laundering billions of dollars for Iran through the Manama-based Future Bank, Attorney General Ali bin Fadhel Al-Buainain said.

"Bahrain's Public Prosecution Office has sent over to the court the cases of the [people] suspected of laundering enormous sums of money for Iran through one of the largest Bahraini banks, Future Bank, to finance terrorist activities. The bank has conducted thousands of financial operations providing cover to Iranian companies. The bank managed to hide approximately $5 billion by conducting off-the-books operations," Al-Buainain said in an interview with Al Ayam newspaper.

He added that Bahrain's central bank launched the investigation into Future Bank in 2018 on suspicion of major violations of national banking regulations.

"The central bank conducted an investigation with the bank's employees and checked tens of thousands of documents with the participation of the interior ministry and independent international experts," Al-Buainain added.

Over the years, the Iranian banking system has been operating under heavy US sanctions, as Washington claims the country to be a major sponsor of terrorism, something which Tehran has denied.