A former Qatari finance minister has been charged by the country’s prosecutors with bribery, money laundering, and other corruption charges, a state news agency said on Sunday.
Former Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi, who became finance minister and chairman of Qatar National Bank in 2013, was arrested in May 2021 when he was one of the most influential business executives in the Middle East.
He will face trial with other defendants, Qatar News Agency reported, and is charged with “bribery, appropriation of public money, abuse of office, abuse of power, damage to public money and money laundering.”
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Prosecutors said the investigation had been completed “by interrogating the accused, hearing witnesses, and examining the technical reports” but gave no details on the charges, the sums involved, or the identity of the other accused.
Al-Emadi rose through the ranks after joining QNB in 2005 as it became one of the most influential banking groups in the Middle East.
Diplomats with knowledge of the investigation said that scores of business people and government officials have been questioned in the case.
Just ahead of Al-Emadi’s arrest, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, revised the law to end immunity from prosecution for ministers.
Profile of Former Qatari Finance Minister
Ali Sharif Al Emadi is a Qatari economist and businessman. He served as the minister of finance from June 2013 to May 2021. He also served as chairman of the QNB Group and is on the board of directors of Ooredoo, Tunisian-Qatari Bank, and Union of Arab Banks.
Qatar
Qatar is a peninsular Arab country whose terrain comprises an arid desert and a long Persian (Arab) Gulf shoreline of beaches and dunes.
Also on the coast is the capital, Doha, known for its futuristic skyscrapers and other ultramodern architecture inspired by ancient Islamic design, such as the limestone Museum of Islamic Art.
