SANA’A, Aug. 5 – The Yemen Central Bank warned of a broad process of money laundering particularly following the robbery of $70,000 and SR 50,000 from the Interior Ministry when reinforcement personnel broke into the ministry complex last week.

The Central Bank issued general directions Thursday to all banks in the country, saying, “All the employees in all bank branches nationwide ought to be alert to exchange those sums; they should immediately give notice in case an attempted exchange is detected.”

The directions indicated concerns about the use of the robbed money in markets or being deposited in banks.

A security official who is not authorized to speak with the press said the theft occurred Tuesday in the minister's office, where forged money was kept.

The money was confiscated until the fraudsters' issue finalized. It was planned that the money later would be burned in the Central Bank.   

The source said that the security committee set up by president Abdu Rabu  Mansour Hadi and headed by the deputy minister of Interior Ministry began investigating with detainees who broke into the ministry compound.

Eighty-one detainees are being held in the Central Security Prisons.

Ahmed Saeed Shamakh, a Foreign Relations Department employee and a researcher at the Central Bank, said 70,000 Kuwaiti dinar was previously discovered in the airport in Sana'a, indicating that the detection of forged money is not a new phenomenon.

“Each year, the General Finance Prosecution captures a huge amount of forged currency.”  

Shamakh called on Yemenis to be aware of these directions, particularly at money exchange centers, and to notify the Central Bank if forged money is discovered.

Mustafa Nasr, the head of Studies Center and Economic Media, said he was concerned about economy-related problems if the stolen counterfeit money is exchanged in the market.

“Such currencies trigger inflation of the national economy because it creates an economic burden that the national economy cannot sustain.”