Abu Dhabi money launderers must repay Dh8bn swindled from government company

Criminal Court jails duo for 15 years for forgery and abusing public funds

Abu Dhabi Judicial Department did not reveal which company the defendants worked for. 

Two heads of an Abu Dhabi government-owned company must repay Dh8 billion they swindled from it.

Judges at Abu Dhabi Criminal Court also found them guilty of forgery and abusing public funds. It jailed them for 15 years.

The defendants – a chairman and chief executive – were discovered “in the context of corruption cases”.

The duo created fake businesses outside the country that cloned their employer so payments from two legitimate companies could be channelled to them illegally.

This was “to achieve their basic objective, which is to pour money from the agreements and contracts into their personal bank accounts,” the department said.

Judges ordered the two to collectively pay Dh8bn to the two victim companies, starting with compensation of Dh501,000.

The court also ordered the seizure of the proceeds of the money laundering and the deportation of the second defendant.

Precise details of the case, how the duo were caught or their names were not revealed by Abu Dhabi Judicial Department.