Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Kuwaiti woman held in Bahrain money laundering probe
KUWAIT (AP) - A Kuwaiti woman is being questioned by prosecutors in Kuwait as part of an investigation into accusations of money laundering against a former Bahraini state minister, a security official said on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa issued a decree dismissing the minister, Mansour bin Rajab, without giving a reason, local media had reported.
Bin Rajab, a state minister without portfolio, told Al Arabiya television on Monday that he had been dismissed to facilitate an investigation into the money laundering accusations, which he denied.
"A Kuwaiti woman is being questioned by the prosecution about accusations of money laundering," the security official told reporters, declining to be named.
The woman was taken into custody two days ago, he said. She was in possession of a cheque issued in Nigeria for 9 million euros ($12.13 million) which the Bahraini minister had asked her to cash for a cut of the sum, he added.
Bahrain, which hosts the regional headquarters of anti-money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force, issued an anti-money laundering law in 2001 but until now there had been no such high-profile investigations or arrests among senior officials. ($1=0.7417 euro)
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