Kuwait .. Tsunami accusations of money laundering hit media celebrities

Kuwait - Al Jazeera Net

A wave of panic is sweeping the media media in Kuwait among the tweeters and those known as "fashinstats", as a result of referring two of them (Mohadrad and Fashinista) to the Public Prosecution on charges of money laundering through their advertisements on their accounts on social media.

Lawyers assured Al-Jazeera Net that this is just the beginning and that this thread will drag behind a good number of these celebrities, after their assets in the banks have been inflated so exaggerated that they have reached millions of numbers, in addition to the severe oppression that appears to them from buying luxury cars and real estate In a short period in a way that is not commensurate with the assumed sources of income for them.

The legal experts also pointed out that there is a defect in monitoring the work of these celebrities, they perform their work without professional or commercial licenses, and the financial compensation that they receive for their advertisements remains without controls because they provide services and not commodities whose prices can be legalized, which calls for legislation It places them within the legal and financial control.

High risk
The head of the Administrative Services Department in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance Bader Al-Qattan told Al-Jazeera Net, “As a finance ministry, we cannot move except at the request of the competent authorities, such as the Ministry of Interior, which may ask us for a specific statement on a particular person, or the banks that must inform us if inflation is The account of any customer without justification. "

He added, "If the bank does not address us, on what basis will we move? I can say that I am certain that there is money laundering, but the issue here is the Ministry of Interior and the Central Bank of Kuwait, and the situation requires more deterrent legislation."

For his part, Lawyer Haider Nawar Jamal, Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee at the Kuwait Lawyers Association for Al-Jazeera Net, said, “Banks should consider famous media celebrities from high-risk clients, because they frequently deal in cash (cash), and there is no standard for prices The ads they provide, especially that their work is based on (services) and not a commodity or product, and they may be used by others to pass illegal money. "

Unfortunately, many banks do not take these measures with them, either because they trust them or shorten them.

Jamal stresses that what we see now is the beginning of the thread, as there are famous media players who have imaginary assets and deal in millions of dinars, which makes them in the crosshairs, according to him.

As for lawyer Naguib Al-Waqayan, he assures Al-Jazeera Net the necessity of legalizing and restricting the work of these celebrities on social media sites in the field of advertisements, because if media media celebrities are prevented from providing these advertisements, "we will prevent a large part of any attempts to launder money through them, then we must close the doors of suspicions , Because not putting restrictions on this cyber crime will lead to more of them. "

Al-Waqayan called for the use of international institutions with expertise, because the local authorities alone will not be able to access the accounts of money launderers in some of the islands and small countries known to harbor suspicious funds?

In turn, lawyer Inaam Haidar told Al Jazeera Net, "The financial behavior of some of these celebrities is exaggerated, and they must provide conclusive evidence of the legality of the sources of the funds and not through fake operations to verify their authenticity and in order to be able to exonerate themselves."

Another opinion ... just rumors
A number of famous singers and fascists have refused to comment on these accusations, and some have entrusted legal attorney, Bader Baqer, who assured Al-Jazeera Net that a number of his fashions have been summoned by the Kuwaiti State Security Investigations to investigate with them about the influx of their assets, where they provided evidence of legality This inflation, and they did not commit any legal violation, as these funds were obtained in exchange for ads through their accounts on the communication sites.

Baqer added that everything that is rumored is just rumors and gossip. The celebrities of the social media get a large financial reward for submitting these advertisements, and this matter varies from one person to another according to his fame and the number of his followers, and there are no violations of the law in their actions.

The Central Bank of Kuwait was not far from the ongoing controversy, as it issued a statement confirming that in the event that banks violate the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, penalties of up to five hundred thousand Kuwaiti dinars ($ 1.63 million) are applied to them, indicating that the Financial Investigation Unit is the body that The law specializes in her to receive notifications to take charge of the investigation and then inform the Public Prosecution if necessary, and that freezing the accounts of companies and individuals with local banks requires a decision from the judiciary.

According to experts and specialists, the accusations of money laundering will soon or later hit many famous singers and fashionistas social media in Kuwait, and the matter may result in restrictions on the use of these accounts on social media sites that currently operate advertising platforms without controls.