Several social media accounts, including owners with accounts dealing with luxury goods auctions and real estate brokers (auctioneers), have come under suspicion for involvement in money laundering, after their recent activities provide evidence that their dealings violate provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Funding Law, reports Al-Rai daily.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has gathered proof that six real estate brokerage offices were complicit in the brokerage of sales of chalets built on state properties, but did not follow the stipulated conditions for such transaction as evident in their books. The brokerage offices will be referred to the Financial Investigation Unit.
The daily, quoting informed sources, revealed that chalets and industrial or agricultural real estates or plots, and any real estate coming under the state properties are not to be sold under regular property method whereby properties are registered and acquired through the auction book.
Under the law, the transferring of their ownership to another party must be done by its withdrawal in the Ministry of Finance, provided the property is registered with the Ministry of Justice in the name of the new party. The auctioneer in charge of any state property has the limited role of fixing the price between the seller and the buyer.
The daily reports that a chalet was sold at the highest price in the list of sale violations was KD 1.4 million, and the most chalets to be sold cost KD 850,000, which raised suspicions, even though the initial estimated value of its price does not exceed half a million dinars.
The report also mentioned that the six chalet locations are different. MoCI is not concerned with the property sale exceeding the real market value of these chalets, but is concerned with the fact that the six signers have registered their assets on state property, said the daily, quoting sources.
The violation carried a suspicion of money laundering, as they violated provisions of the law regarding their auction books. The files will be referred to the Financial Investigation Unit where the observed violations will be noted for an extensive investigation to be carried out to ascertain if there is criminal activity involved.