Bahrain: 3 Future Bank officials get 5 years for money laundering

Dubai: Bahrain’s High Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced three Future Bank officials to five years in prison each and fined them $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in the latest of a series of money-laundering cases by the Central Bank of Iran and other banks, Bahrain News Agency reported.

The court also slapped $1 million fines on the Central Bank of Iran and the other banks implicated in the wide money-laundering scheme, General Advocate Nayef Youssef Mahmoud said.

The total of fines imposed on the Iran Central Bank, other Iranian banks, and the three Future Bank officials in seven cases reached $47 million. The court also ordered the confiscation of the illegally transferred money that reached $13 million.

The Public Prosecution had previously announced that its investigations had revealed that the Central Bank of Iran planned to launder billions of dollars through the Future Bank that was established in Bahrain and controlled by two Iranian banks, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat Iran, to pass suspicious financial transactions in favour of Iranian entities, mainly the Central Bank of Iran, in violation of laws and regulations.