Three expat workers caught for running liquor business
A criminal court in Qatar is hearing a case involving three expatriate workers accused of running illicit alcohol business and making as much as half a million riyals in just a few months.
They were caught for running their illegal liquor business 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 detectives 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 detectives 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 investigators, 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]
Photo for illustration only.
Mary: I though so, but was not sure of this as I am not from the group who drink.Thanks for the info.
And this doesn't take into account the bootlegging that takes place with goods from QDC.
ishu369: Thanks for sharing the info on the mode of delivery. It had always kept me wondering.
hang them. lol.
they r into hawala for sure. cant raise this much amount only with liqour business.
not only minivan, do u guys know that these products are transferred via the bicycle delivery method, similar to the local grocery store boys
those persons who knows the locations where liquer is being sale... it meant he is also a customer of this kind of bussiness. it is my guess.. am I right?? haha..:)
ha ha ha money money money...........
I heard of an Asian guy in Jubail who went back with 300,000 riyals after one year. And all he did was act as courier.
Brit: I recall in the 90s a westerner got killed in S Arabia over a "turf war" on booze-selling. The incident got reported in the newspapers and the cause behind the murder was determined after investigations were carried out by the authorities.
ataperla: Not rubbish, but reality. There is a big underground market for booze both in Qatar and Saudi. The profits are enormous.
ataperla: Your posting shows you are not aware of ground realities. Try talking to colleagues if you are working somewhere or to the labor force if you know of any, and you will soon get to know how deep is this problem here. When any illegal activity is carried out underground, it carries a price and as such the "income" of people involved in such crimes is also likewise very good. The CEID has done a good job in hitting out and breaking the source of supplies. The sad part is that this weekend may be very "dry one" for many!!
QR518,000 in from august till february, means alomst QR 85000 per month, means QR 2800 per day!! thats rubbish!!
and also since when the CEID monitoring people bank account?
is it that easy to manufactur liquors at home that you can gain this amount of money from it? I don’t think that’s true story
Hats off to the CEID department. So they started monitoring bank account and capturing personals ? I hope , very soon many of the people will be caught. Their monthly salary may not be more than 2000 QAR but, if they monitor their fund transaction , that would be more than 50000. per month.
This is just a starting.
They probably didn't "squander" the money, but sent it overseas using a hawala transfer. Check their home country accounts.
Good job just before Ramadan. Jail and deport them so that they don't enter any GCC country for these illegal activities. There must be many others involved as they will work as a gang. A Lot of expatriates involved also in money laundering, they just collect QR here and in a phone call deliver in the local currency in their hometown. If you observe groceries in interior areas like Umm Salal, Al Khor etc etc. you can track them easily, as their contacts are passed on.