UAE: People aiding criminal activities will be held liable

Abu Dhabi - Legal action against those found transferring money to suspicious bank accounts

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department authorities have warned that providing assistance in criminal activities such as transferring money to suspicious bank accounts, which are used to fund illegal pursuits like smuggling drugs, would lead to firm legal action.

They have emphasised that legal measures would be taken against those who have been found to be aiding and abetting criminals.

These people wouldn’t be able to escape the long arm of the law, as they are complicit in allowing fraudsters to use their bank accounts to transfer funds either within the UAE or abroad.

A social media campaign has been launched, where a clip of an awareness film titled, “Transferring funds from your account to an anonymous account, a great risk, and a criminal liability”, was posted.

The film, which was posted on Twitter, warned about the consequences of bank transfers to unknown recipients and is carried out by nefarious elements because they try to exploit the trust of their unsuspecting relatives and friends by asking for their personal identification documents. These documents are used to transfer money for illegal activities.

“The fraudsters might ask their friends or relatives to help them remit cash using their documents or transfer money through their bank accounts to the accounts of unknown persons who might turn out to be drug dealers. The transferred cash could be bankrolled to smuggle drugs,” said officials.

Judicial authorities have called on residents to be careful whenever anyone requests them to help transfer money from their bank accounts to other unknown accounts or use their personal documents to remit cash under any pretext.

They have been urged to avoid falling into the fraudsters’ trap, as they will be held responsible and legally accountable for committing crimes, albeit unwittingly.

Earlier, an awareness campaign was launched coinciding with the Holy month of Ramadan, which started on April 13. The drive focused on spreading the message through five short films that covered a wide range of topics regarding these criminal and fraudulent activities.

The films, which have been made on the basis of similar reported incidents, aim to further raise awareness, reduce crimes and protect potential victims from perpetrators, the authorities added.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com