Kuwait royal family member arrested for money laundering
Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, son of the former
prime minister, and his business partner Hamad Al Wazzan, were arrested on
Wednesday night for money laundering related to the Malaysian fund case, known
as the 1MBD scandal, Al Qabas reported.
Attorney General Dharar Al Asousi issued a warrant for the
arrest of Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, earlier on Wednesday, which
was then handed over to the Ministry of Interior to search for Sheikh Sabah and
arrest him.
The prosecution came to the decision after reviewing all
bank documents and financial transactions, linking him to the 1MBD case.
“Nobody is above the law in Kuwait and the country’s
international reputation is a red line,” a source told Al Qabas. A travel ban
has also been issued against Sheikh Sabah.
Connection to 1MBD
Last month, the Public Prosecution obtained files of three
Kuwaiti companies that were indicted on charges of money laundering in relation
to the 1MBD case.
Back in May, the Kuwaiti Cabinet was investigating media
reports that presumably linked Kuwait-based companies to a Chinese company and
the former Malaysian government.
The 1MBD case began in 2015 when then-Prime Minister Najib
Razak was charged with funnelling money from the 1Malaysian Development Berhad
(1MBD), a state-owned investment fund, to his personal account. Fugitive
Malaysian financier Jho Low is the prime suspect in the case.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ),
Low’s ties to Sheikh Sabah allowed him to gain new business deals and new
channels for laundering money. Low and Sheikh Sabah’s relationship began in
2016, as the US authorities were honing in on Low and his activities.
The WSJ said that the Malaysian investigators were able to
track money from China to a Chinese bank in Kuwait that was then transferred to
an entity partially controlled by Low in the Cayman Islands. That money,
approximately $1 billion, was then used to pay for Low-controlled assets in
Malaysia to pay for debts related to 1MBD.
Fight against corruption
There have been a series of corruption scandals in Kuwait in
the last few months, from the 1MBD scandal to the arrest of a Bangladeshi MP
for human trafficking and money laundering.
Earlier this week, the Emir expressed his concerns regarding
Kuwait’s image as a ‘hotbed of corruption’.
The Prime Minister also addressed the issue of corruption as
he said, “nobody will be protected by their position or name if they have
committed a crime that infringes on public money.”
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