Sudan: The prison for the first personality from Former Bashir Regime
On Monday, a Sudanese court condemned to prison the first personality from the regime of overthrew President Omar al-Bashir. He is Abdul Basit Hamza that was accused of money laundering, terrorist financing, trading in foreign currency and illegal and suspicious richness. So, he was condemned to ten years in prison and a penalty.
According to the accusation, Hamza is one of Sudan’s Islamist security leaders and had worked as an independent businessman. He had actually used money from pillaged public funds in the Islamic Movement (the Sudanese version of the Muslim Brotherhood), and his fortune is assessed at billions of dollars.
Moreover, the Public Prosecution declared that Hamza was sentenced under articles of the Unlawful and Suspicious Enrichment Act of 1989 and was condemned to five years in jail. The law court also sentenced Hamza under Article 35 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act, condemning him to another five years.
Reports cited what a member of the committee for dismantling the ousted June 30 regime, Salah Manna, said that Hamza operated for the so-called Islamic Movement Cell in the Sudanese Army and used his influence to take more than two billion dollars.
Selling to foreign investors with a low prices
Manna also indicated that as president of the Board of Directors of the Sudanese Mobile Telephone Company (MOBITEL), Hamza managed the telecommunications sector in the country, revealing that the prisoner contributed to sell the company to foreign investors at a price that doesn’t surpass 10 percent of its real worth. He also added: He then invested public funds in several African countries, from which Sudan gained nothing.
In the same context, the committee blocked, in April 2020, Hamza and his family members’ bank accounts and returned shares in many companies. Hamza has the Friendship Palace Hotel and the surrounding areas in Khartoum, and also land in other parts of the capital. He possesses the majority of parts of the Salam Rotana Hotel and the Afra Mall and a large number of shares at the MTN Sudan Telecommunication Company.
