A court document revealed that a Qatari court sentenced former Finance Minister Ali Sherif Al-Emadi to up to 20 years in prison and fined him over 61 billion Qatari riyals (16.7 billion dollars) for crimes including money laundering exceeding 20.5 billion Qatari riyals (5.6 billion dollars). The document showed that the primary court ruled that Al-Emadi must pay a fine exceeding 61 billion Qatari riyals (16.7 billion dollars), which includes 40.9 billion riyals, or double the amount of money he laundered, along with additional fines exceeding 21 billion riyals.
According to the document, the judges also convicted Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, a prominent member of the Qatari ruling family and brother of the former Qatari Prime Minister, of misusing public funds, sentencing him to six years in prison and imposing a fine of 825 million riyals. Al-Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf, who were tried alongside 14 others, can appeal the ruling issued by the court on January 10. It is not yet clear whether the two men filed motions to contest the charges during the trial.
Al-Emadi's lawyers did not respond to requests from Reuters for comments on the conviction, and Al-Emadi has not made any public statement since his arrest. Sheikh Nawaf could not be reached for comment. The Katara Hospitality company, which he previously chaired, refused to provide contact details for him. A charity managed by his branch of the ruling family, which he once led, stated it is no longer in contact with him.
Al-Emadi was convicted on charges of bribery, abuse of power, public fund mismanagement, and money laundering, according to the document, which did not detail the nature of the corruption activities. A lawyer representing another defendant and a source familiar with the case confirmed the content of the five-page court document that Reuters reviewed.
Al-Emadi was arrested in May 2021 and removed from his position as Finance Minister. Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated that the investigation into Al-Emadi pertains to his role as Finance Minister, not the other positions he held in the business community during his time as minister. The Qatari financial institution was shocked by the arrest and prosecution of high-profile Qataris like Al-Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf.
Investigating senior officials for corruption is uncommon in the Gulf as they rarely face public scrutiny or prosecution. The official newspaper noted that the Emir of Qatar revoked provisions granting ministers immunity from prosecution a day before Al-Emadi's arrest in 2021. Until 2021, Sheikh Nawaf, the brother of former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, was the chairman of Katara Hospitality, the hotel arm of the Qatar Investment Authority, which owns the Savoy hotel in London and the Plaza in New York, and developed the 600 million dollar Katara Towers hotel project in Qatar.
