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Dubai: 12 gang members jailed over Dh185-million money laundering scheme

The main convict, with the help of others, was found to have established companies in several countries

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Twelve members of a gang were jailed in Dubai after they were found guilty of carrying out a Dh185-million money laundering scheme.

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced four of them to three-year imprisonment while eight will serve a year in jail. Two other members were fined Dh20,000 each, and four were acquitted.

The gang siphoned off the huge sum of money from an Arab lawyer’s office, duping him and several clients in an elaborate modus operandi that ran from 2014 to 2020. Some gang members worked within the intellectual property department of the firm.

The main convict, with the help of others, was found to have established companies in several countries, telling clients that they were “branches” of the law firm. Court records show that the gang was able to issue invoices, receive fees and even print receipts for the unsuspecting clients.

Through this scheme, the gang received millions of dirhams in client payments and managed to transfer them to bank accounts of several people in various countries.

Three members of the gang were able to send millions of dirhams through exchange companies, exceeding the permissible limit, and thus violating the law, court records show.

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One member had set up several bank accounts in his home country, and three of the convicts were able to transfer $6 million to one of these accounts, and $2 million to another account.

The court ordered the confiscation of all the convicts’ money and assets, and the three shell companies they founded were fined Dh500,000.

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