A Bahrain Court has issued warrants seeking help of International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for the arrest of Majid Al-Refai and Falah Al Falah who allegedly failed to attend all court hearings to date.
The Criminal Court of Bahrain deferred the issuance of a ruling on the criminal case against Majid Al-Refai, the former Chief Executive Officer of Bank Alkhair, and his associate Falah Al Falah, until the 26th of June 2012. The case was adjourned due to Al-Refai and Al Falah’s failure to attend the court hearing, in addition to further submittals by the Bank confirming the charges against Al-Refai.
On the 5th of September 2010, Bank Alkhair submitted a criminal complaint against Al-Refai and Falah Al Falah to the General Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Following the review of that claim, the General Prosecutor commissioned Deloitte to conduct an independent investigation into the matter. The Deloitte report concluded that there were 58 criminal offences committed by Majid Al-Refai and his associates during their tenure at the Bank. The criminal offences relate mainly to transactions by Al-Refai that were not approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors, including personally appropriating and squandering Bank funds and shredding and destroying over 8000 Bank documents.
As a result of Al-Refai’s failure to attend any of the 7 court hearings relating to the criminal case as required by criminal procedures law, an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) warrant has been issued for his arrest. In the event that Al-Refai and Al Falah fail to attend the next court hearing, the court will issue a ruling in absentia.