The Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed allegations by Bahrain that Iranian banks had been involved in money laundering, saying the charges are politically motivated.
Last week Bahraini news outlets said the public prosecutor in Manama had referred 13 banks, including the Central Bank of Iran, to court for money laundering and other “unlawful banking practices” carried out between 2008 and 2012 with the goal to circumvent sanctions against Tehran.
The charges referred mainly to Future Bank in the tiny kingdom with close military, political and economic ties to the United States.
At a regular press briefing on Monday Saeed Khatibzadeh, the ministry spokesman strongly condemned the allegations as legally unfounded.
“These charges have been rejected several times as having no legal and judicial basis,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB news website.
“The Bahraini bank operates under the supervision of the central bank of that country. The fact that they make such baseless claims means nothing but a politically- oriented move,” he said.
Khatibzadeh added that due legal process was not observed in making such allegations. “Iran will not only dismisses the [potential] court ruling but will also deem it destructive.”
Known also as Al-Mustaqbal Bank, the Manama-based bank was set up in 2004 with the permission of the Bahraini government as a joint venture by Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Melli Iran and Arab state’s Al-Ahli Bank, operating under the supervision of the its central bank.
Bahraini prosecutors claim employees at Future Bank, which was allegedly involved in “systematic and widespread violations of Bahrain’s banking law,” worked with Iranian bank officials to transfer over $1.3 billion.
“Future Bank has used an unapproved alternative transfer system to complete banking operations with the aim of concealing the source and movement of funds, benefitting Iranian banks and circumventing international sanctions and restrictions on transactions imposed against Iranian entities,” Bahrain’s state-owned BNA news agency said last Tuesday.
The probe, BNA claimed, was carried out by the Financial Investigation Directorate at Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior, the Central Bank of Bahrain and independent international experts.
Banks implicated and referred for prosecution include Future Bank, Bank Melli Iran, Bank Saderat Iran, and the CBI.
To date, the Manama court has imposed $900 million in fines against those “found guilty” in cases related to Future Bank, confiscated transfer amounts worth $367 million and issued custodial penalties against them.
