Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish that financial crimes are unlawful (haram) in Islam and accordingly, the responsibilities of the Sharia's Supervisory Boards of Islamic financial institutions include the prevention and control of financial crimes. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents an analogy (qiyas) of the injunctions in the Qur'an and Sunna. Findings Financial crimes are prohibited in Islam as much as, if not more than, their prohibition by temporal laws. Practical implications The responsibilities of the Shari'a Supervisory Boards in ensuring (3z(BShari'a-compliance(3y (Bon the part of the Islamic financial institutions include a wider ambit. It includes the prevention and control of financial crimes. Originality/value The paper provides additional dimension to Sharia's governance framework for the Islamic financial services industry.