Qatar’s criminal court handed down a 20-year prison sentence to the country‘s ex-finance minister for engaging in money laundering activities involving over $5.6 billion. This information comes from a judgment summary obtained by Reuters.
The court also imposed a hefty fine of more than 61 billion Qatari riyals (approximately $16.7 billion) on Ali Sherif al-Emadi. This fine includes double the laundered amount (40.9 billion riyals) and additional fines surpassing 21 billion riyals.
The judgment also implicated Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, a prominent member of Qatar’s royal family and sibling of the former Qatari prime minister.
Sheikh Nawaf was found guilty of misusing public funds, resulting in a six-year prison term and a fine of 825 million riyals.
Both Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf, along with 14 other co-defendants, have the option to appeal their convictions, handed down by the court on January 10. It remains unclear if they pled in response to the accusations during the trial.
Emadi has been silent publicly since his arrest, and his legal team did not reply to Reuters’ inquiries regarding the verdict. Likewise, attempts to reach Sheikh Nawaf for a statement were unsuccessful.
His previous affiliations, including Katara Hospitality and a family-run charitable foundation, have distanced themselves from him.
The charges against Emadi include bribery, abuse of power and position, harm to public funds, and money laundering. The exact details of the corrupt activities were not specified in the document.
A lawyer for one of the defendants and an informed source verified the details of the five-page court document seen by Reuters.
Emadi, who was arrested in May 2021 and subsequently removed from his ministerial position, was investigated in his capacity as finance minister, as clarified by Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. This investigation was separate from his other business roles during his ministerial tenure.
