A bad week for suspected financial criminals in the UAE

Ajay and Atul Gupta in 2011. The two men, along with their brother Rajesh, are wanted on charges of corruption in South Africa. Getty

Indian-born brothers Atul and Rajesh Gupta are accused by South Africa of grave crimes. It is alleged that the two used their close ties with former president Jacob Zuma to loot billions of rand in state funds. They are also accused of influencing Cabinet appointments. South African authorities accuse the Gup­tas, once ranked among the country’s most prominent businessmen, of being at the centre of a web of state corruption during Mr Zuma’s rule, during which the government estimates that more than 500 billion rand ($32.3bn) was stolen from its coffers.

Yesterday, the pair were arrested by Dubai police, who also announced that the process of extraditing them to South Africa was under way. If they are found guilty in the country from which they allegedly stole so much, it would be a significant international legal victory, too.

So would the prosecution of British financial trader Sanjay Shah, now one step closer after a collaboration between the UAE and Denmark, leading to his arrest and upcoming extradition. Mr Shah has been accused of being a key player in a $1.7bn tax refund scheme running between 2012 to 2015 that is alleged to have defrauded Denmark.

Securing the arrests of these parties within days of each other represents a significant development in its process to battle the huge global toll of financial crime. The UN estimates that globally as much as $2 trillion of dirty money is concealed from authorities every year.

This is a drain that the world cannot afford, particularly now. Covid-19 and a host of other economic vulnerabilities are putting a strain on all countries. The challenge is inevitably global. Organisations such as Interpol and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog on financial crime, put multilateral collaboration at the heart of their operations. The UAE is working with the latter after the country was put under increased monitoring. At the time, Minister of State Ahmed Al Sayegh said FATF was focusing on “effectiveness”. “Effectiveness, by definition, means evidence submitted over time,” he said.

Effectiveness is what this week has shown. International victories demonstrate that collaboration works.

In recent years the UAE has been doing its part to fight back. Like all global financial hubs, authorities have to strike the balance between creating open economies conducive to business and investment and dissuading some of the cleverest criminals around from taking advantage of this openness. In 2021, the UAE and South Africa ratified an extradition treaty. In March 2022, the UAE and Denmark struck a similar agreement. In 2021, Leon Cullen, one of Britain's most wanted criminals was extradited after a joint operation between police in the Emirates, the UK's National Crime Agency and Interpol. Cullen, the former head of a drugs and firearms gang, is now spending 22 years in prison.

In an article at the beginning of the year for Forbes Middle East, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, outlined five principles for combatting financial crime in the country, all focused on two themes: raising awareness of the complex problem across the board and boosting international co-operation.

At least 145 international fugitives were arrested and brought to justice in the Emirates last year. With two significant victories this week, evidence is mounting that the integrated approach the UAE has adopted, with co-operation among all stakeholders, is working.