The Kingdom has decided to take swift measures to nip in the bud potential use of gold, jewelry and precious stones in money laundering trade or to finance terrorism. Individuals working at the Saudi gold and jewelry market have recently noted that diamond and other precious stones may well be used for “bleaching” of money and for finding inroads into financing terrorism. A number of tradesmen indicated that jewels are perfect choice for money laundering as they are both lightweight and expensive, Al-Hayat reported on Sunday. The Ministry of Interior has directed owners of gold and jewelry shops in the Kingdom to alert the financial investigations unit of any suspicious transactions. A recent Royal Decree facilitated the establishment of anti-money laundering regulation and Financial Investigations Unit was created accordingly, the paper said. The unit is tasked with the work of receiving and analyzing reports, and of reporting all dubious transactions carried out at all financial and non-financial institutions. The unit reports to the Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs. __
