Abu Dhabi court convicts top company executives in money laundering case

Two former officials of a government-owned Abu Dhabi company have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court announced the verdict against the company's former Chairman of the Board of Directors and its ex-CEO.

In a statement, the court said, the men, who have not been named, "took advantage of their position in the company and misused public funds".

They must pay a fine and return about AED 8 billion to the two companies they had cheated.

The court also ordered the seizure of the proceeds of crime and the property of equivalent value, and sentenced the pair to pay an amount of AED 501,000 as temporary compensation to the two companies.

The second accused will be deported after serving his sentence.

Case details

Investigations by the Public Prosecution in Abu Dhabi revealed that the men exploited the names of two companies to enter into agreements with firms based abroad, by misusing their positions in the parent company.

They concluded parallel and identical agreements with these companies, with entities which had the same name as their parent company. Then they transferred the cash into the cloned companies.

The accused also ensured that all charges and obligations were transferred to their employers, while the cash from the agreements and contracts was transferred into their bank accounts.

Investigations also revealed that the accused created several companies outside the country to create confusion between the original company and the companies that were established outside the country to cover up the misappropriation of funds.

They used these fake accounts to divide and distribute the funds to others involved in the crime and finally transferred the rest to other accounts owned by them.

Abu Dhabi Criminal Court Convicts a Former Chairman and CEO in Money Laundering Case pic.twitter.com/BKvqfnxRdf

— دائرة القضاء-أبوظبي (@ADJD_Official) February 3, 2021