Manama: A Bangladeshi man working in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to eight months in jail — along with 200 lashes and a 3,000 riyal fine — for his role in money laundering operations.
The suspect reportedly transferred four million Saudi Riyals from his personal account, before he was arrested, following the discovery of operations that exceeded two billion Saudi Riyals, Saudi daily Al Madinah reported on Monday.
The main suspect in the money-laundering scheme was a young Saudi man who offered him a mobile refill card and 10 Saudi Riyals for each operation.
The Bangladeshi said that he carried out the order of the Saudi man, his boss at the company where he worked, to transfer the money to companies and people in several countries, including in the Gulf, and that he knew nothing about money-laundering or the scheme in which he was implicated.
Police said the amount transferred to the employee’s account from April 13, 2014 until April 13, 2015 totalled 3,943,378 riyals.
According to the daily, the Saudi suspect, in his late 20s, was arrested upon his return from travel abroad and subsequently charged with carrying out money-laundering operations that amounted to around two billion riyals.
Investigations revealed that he had used some of his employees to deposit large amounts of money in a local bank, and that the bank reported the issue to the authorities.
However, the suspect denied the charges and insisted he had been carrying out legal commercial activities for ten years. He added that he had businesses in the UAE, China and India.
