Qatar charges former finance minister with bribery and embezzlement

Al-Emadi is set to face criminal trials in 2021 after being arrested on charges of embezzlement.

Qatar’s former Finance Minister Ali Sherif Al-Emadi is set to face criminal trials after being arrested in 2021 on charges of embezzlement.

Al-Emadi was arrested in May 2021, but little has been made public about his case. The state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) said in a brief statement on Sunday that he would be indicted and put on trial along with an unspecified number of others.

“Because the evidence extracted from the case documents established that the defendants committed the crimes attributed to them, the Attorney General has taken , issued an order to refer the defendant to a criminal court.Money, abuse of office, abuse of power, damage to public funds, money laundering,” the QNA report said.

The report did not elaborate on the amount the former minister was accused of stealing.

Al-Emadi rose to prominence in the Gulf United Arab Emirates after the current Emir ascended the throne and oversaw the transformation of the Qatar National Bank into the Middle East’s largest lender.

Once one of Qatar’s most powerful officials, Al Emadi has also served as chairman of a bank, board of directors of a Qatar sovereign wealth fund and chairman of the executive committee of Qatar Airways.

Al-Emadi has not publicly commented on the matter.

Reuters reported that Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdurrahman Al-Thani said the investigation was related to his capacity as finance minister and his posts at sovereign funds and banks. He reportedly said he didn’t.