Exchange firm's services closed by court order

Doha

Part of the services provided by a local exchange house has been closed by a Doha court order following its conviction in a money laundering case, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported.
Besides, the company and its manager were fined QR50,000, the daily noted.
The defendants later appealed against the ruling and the case is being heard in the Court of Appeal.
The matter came to light after the authorities concerned detected suspicious transactions involving the exchange house. The firm had apparently received and transferred money from persons without verifying their identity, and some of them later turned out to be non-existent, according to the report.
The money would be routed into Qatar from an Arab country through a GCC nation and then re-transferred in other names and through different channels. The method was devised in such a manner that it would make it difficult to trace the source or final recipient of the transferred money.