'Crimes' Convicts 4, Acquits 14 in Money Laundering and Forgery Case

The Criminal Court convicted four defendants and acquitted 14 others in a case involving allegations of bribery, forgery, money laundering, residency trafficking, and misuse of telecommunications facilities. The court also concluded that the seventeenth defendant, represented by lawyer Inaam Haider, was acquitted of all charges against him.

The court sentenced one defendant to seven years’ imprisonment with hard labor and fined him 5,000 dinars for forgery, ordering his deportation from the country after serving his sentence. It also sentenced another defendant to three years’ imprisonment with hard labor for forgery, along with deportation after completing his sentence.

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The court also issued two separate fines against other defendants, each amounting to 5,000 dinars, for residency trafficking, and ordered the confiscation of forged documents and seized items.

The Public Prosecution had charged the seventeenth defendant, represented by lawyer Inaam Haider, with participating by agreement and assisting in the forgery of official electronic transactions related to the issuance of work permits, as well as providing monetary payments through an intermediary in exchange for processing those transactions, and misusing telecommunications facilities.

However, the court was not convinced by the evidence presented in the case files and acquitted him, emphasizing that the mere fact that some defendants handed over money in exchange for obtaining work permits was not sufficient in itself to prove their knowledge of the forgery or their participation in committing it.

The court clarified that the case files lacked conclusive evidence proving that the defendants knew about the alteration of data recorded in the documents, agreed to such alterations, or participated in them through agreement or assistance. It noted that the defendants maintained their denials, and the evidence presented did not reach the level of certainty and conviction required for a guilty verdict.

The court also concluded that the crime of bribery against a public official was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which led to the dismissal of related charges, including intermediation in bribery and offering bribes.

The facts of the case date back to the period from July to mid-August 2025, during which investigations focused on electronic transactions for issuing work permits for foreign labor, and the allegations of forgery, bribery, money laundering, residency trafficking, and misuse of telecommunications facilities that arose in connection with them.