Oman crime: 265 suspicious transactions recorded by ROP

Muscat: More than 260 complaints about “suspicious transactions” were received in 2014 by the Royal Oman Police (ROP).
A financial report of the ROP said it had received 265 complaints about “suspicious transactions” during 2014, while in 2013, it was only 254.
“Banks and money exchange companies came first, where they reported around 260 complaints, which comprised 98 per cent
of the total complaints,” the report added.
Among the complaints, 231 cases were referred to the public prosecution, 290 were discontinued by the unit, 171 were discontinued by the public prosecution, 279 were referred to the tax unit and five referred to the court.
The report pointed out that 24 cases were of money laundering and other related criminal activities, followed by seven cases of violation of Omani Penal Code and five for violating labour laws, were reported.
The reports showed that four cases were also recorded for violating banking laws, three for violating the commercial register and trade laws and two for violating non-government organisation (NGO) laws.
Five countries cooperated with the Sultanate in the field of money laundering and counter-terrorism during the year 2014, compared with four in
2013, according to an ROP financial report.
The report also added that the number of “suspicious transactions” reported to the ROP was 1,001 between 2010 and 2014, out of which more than half took place between 2013 and 2014.