Qatar accuses the former finance minister of bribery and embezzlement | Business and economic news

Al-Emadi will face a criminal trial after his arrest in 2021 on charges of embezzlement.

Former Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi will face a criminal trial after his arrest in 2021 on charges of embezzlement.

Al-Emadi was arrested in May 2021 but little has been made public about his case. Qatar News Agency (QNA) said in a short statement on Sunday that he will be tried along with an unspecified number of others on charges.

“Since the evidence extracted from the case papers proves that the accused committed the crimes attributed to them, the Attorney General issued an order to refer the accused to the Criminal Court to punish them for the crimes attributed to them, which included bribery and appropriation of public money, money, and misuse of position,” said the Qatar News Agency report. Abuse of power, damage to public funds and money laundering.

The report did not clarify the amount of money the former minister was accused of stealing.

Al-Emadi rose to prominence in the Gulf Arab emirate with the current emir’s ascension to the throne and after overseeing the transformation of Qatar National Bank into the largest bank in the Middle East.

Once one of the most powerful officials in Qatar, Al-Emadi was chairman of the bank, member of the board of directors of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and chairman of the executive board of Qatar Airways.

Al-Emadi has not commented publicly on the case.

Reuters news agency reported that Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the investigation was related to his capacity as finance minister and not to his position in the sovereign wealth fund or bank.