According to a document seen by Reuters, a criminal court in Qatar sentenced the former finance minister of the Gulf Arab state to 20 years in prison for laundering more than $5.6 billion.
Additionally, according to the document, the court of first instance ordered Ali Sherif Al Emadi to pay a fine exceeding 61 billion Qatari riyals ($16.7 billion), which was divided into two parts: 40.9 billion riyals, or twice the amount of money he laundered, and additional fines totaling more than 21 billion riyals.
According to the same document, judges also ruled Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani guilty of misusing public funds. They also fined him 825 million riyals and gave him a six-year sentence.
The conviction, rendered on January 10 by the court, is subject to appeal by Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf, who were two of the fourteen defendants in the trial. Whether the two had entered pleas in response to the allegations during the trial was not immediately apparent.
When Reuters asked Emadi’s attorneys about the conviction, they did not reply, and the man hasn’t made any public remarks since his arrest.
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