According to the Prosecutor Office in Bahrain, the country has opened up legal proceedings against some people and businesses identified to be connected with a money-laundering scheme associated with Iranian banks owned by the state. The operation enabled certain Iranian organizations in Bahrain to move billion of dollars through Future Bank, a Bahrain-based bank but operating under the control of Iran. Investigations have shown that Future Bank was involved in several cases that violated the anti-money laundering laws of Bahrain; also, Iran’s Bank Saderat and Bank Melli controlling the Future Bank in Bahrain have been charged with numerous money laundering cases including hiding the role of Iranians in financial transactions amounting to $7 billion. The report showed that the bank staff would manipulate or remove the SWIFT network when running an international transaction as a way of hiding transactions from regulators in Bahrain. The investigations carried out by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Ministry of Interior, and international regulatory to unveil Iranians’ role in financing terrorism have now been referred to Bahrain’s High Criminal Court while the bodies continue with the investigations.
