13 Indians convicted in money laundering case in UAE

They were found guilty of conducting a business without a license from the relevant authorities by employing points of sale (POS) to provide credit facilities.

13 Indians convicted in money laundering case, tax evasion in UAE anr

Aishwarya Nair

First Published May 18, 2023, 5:42 PM IST | Last Updated May 18, 2023, 5:41 PM IST

Abu Dhabi: Thirteen Indian citizens and the companies they owned were found guilty of money laundering by the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over tax evasion and money laundering offenses. They were found guilty of conducting a business without a license from the relevant authorities by employing points of sale (POS) to provide credit facilities. The money laundering operation involved AED510 million in total, reported Emirates News Agency WAM.

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In absentia and in front of the court, the court sentenced the four accused to 5 to 10 years and fines of 5 to 10 million AED. The court also mandated the forfeiture of the confiscated funds and the eventual deportation of the convicted individuals. The companies responsible for these offenses received a fine of AED 10 million.

According to WAM, the convicts had set up a criminal organisation to conduct an economic activity without a license from the competent authorities, to provide credit facilities, using the points of sale (POS) of several companies, at the headquarters of a travel agency that was used as the venue for this criminal activity. They made false purchases through the POS of the companies created for this purpose, or by misuse by some of the defendants of the powers granted to them to deal with the bank accounts of companies owned by third parties without the knowledge of their owners, in exchange for the deduction of a percentage in favour of the company that owns and uses the POS device for each withdrawal operation.

Additionally, the bank transaction reports and the financial analysis produced by the Financial Information Unit (FIU) both revealed numerous financial operations on these accounts through deposits, withdrawals, and transfers of significant amounts of money into and out of the bank accounts of the defendants and their companies in a short period that would be impossible within the legal framework of their respective economic activities.

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