Bahrain: Man jailed for seven years for money laundering

Cairo: A Bahrain appeals court has upheld a seven-year-jail sentence against a businessman convicted of money laundering.

The Bahraini businessman had been charged with money laundering of nearly BD3 million defrauded from a Saudi investor by selling to him an office building in Bahrain using fake documents.

The defendant fled Bahrain and bought buildings, nightclubs and stocks in several countries, according to media reports.

He later returned to Bahrain after having lost most of his properties abroad. He admitted in investigations that he had seized nearly BD3 million through fraudulence in 2008.

The court ordered him to pay a fine of BD100,000 and confiscation of any assets he owns equal to the money at the centre of the case, Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper reported.

In his legal complaint to Bahraini authorities, the Saudi investor said that he had paid a total of BD2.75 million to buy the building, but later found out that the ownership documents were fake.