DOHA: A criminal court is hearing a case involving three menial workers accused of running an illicit hooch trade and amassing as much as half a million riyals in just a few months.
They were caught for running a hooch den in a villa and the police discovered that one of the accused had deposited QR518,000 ($142,250) in his bank account in instalments in just a few months.
However, when they were caught their bank account had a balance of just QR78.93, details of the case suggest.
The trio has been charged separately under anti-money laundering laws and for making and selling the dangerous and illegal spurious liquor.
Only one of the accused (Accused No. 1) had a bank account, which was opened as recently as last August.
Accused No. 1 was working in a commercial establishment on a monthly salary of QR900, and yet he could deposit more than QR518,000 in his bank account in a short time, raising suspicion.
The trio was caught by Al Shamal Police, which asked the financial information unit of the Criminal Evidence and Information Department (CEID) of the Ministry of Interior to investigate the financial aspect of the illicit liquor trade.
The prime accused (No. 1) admitted during investigation that he had deposited the money in his bank account, but every time he made a deposit, he would receive a commission of QR500 to QR1,000. “That wasn’t my money,” he claimed.
The CEID sleuths recovered from him as many as 45 cash deposit slips which showed that he had deposited cash as many times in his bank account in just seven months — from August 2014 to February 2015.
Earlier, the police had raided a villa where the accused were running the illicit hooch brewing business and had found several bottles full of spurious liquor.
A case was filed with Rayyan Police.
It seems that their “business” was so organised and lucrative that a minivan would arrive at the villa every day to collect liquor for sale, the police told the court.
The CEID sleuths working on the case also found out that the prime accused had not only deposited cash in his bank account frequently, but also made withdrawals at regular intervals.
Accused No. 3 bought dollars worth QR36,000 on three occasions and on one bought 300 dollars from an exchange house, CEID officials working on the case told the court.
The first accused also bought dollars on many occasions and the amount collectively involved in the transactions was QR258,551.
Cheques were used to withdraw cash some 11 times and the amount totalled more than QR100,000. Cash was withdrawn at regular intervals, also using the ATM, and the amounts totalled QR141,000.
CEID sleuths, however, told the court they were not able to establish if the trio or anyone of them had sent money overseas. No such transactions were detected so far.
But before the trio was caught, they had squandered the money as the bank account in question was left with just QR78.93, reports Al Sharq.. The Peninsula
