Dubai court convicts 30-member gang for online scam

A court in Dubai has convicted a 30-member gang and seven companies for laundering money and embezzling AED 32 million in an online scam.

The gang members were sentenced to a combined total of 96 years of imprisonment and will be deported from the country after serving their sentence.

The Money Laundering Court at Dubai Courts also ordered the defendants to jointly pay a fine of over AED 32 million, and imposed a fine of AED 700,000 on the seven companies involved in the case.

Counselor Ismail Madani, Senior Advocate General and Head of Public Funds Prosecution, said that the gang stole the money by sending 118,000 phishing emails to individuals and firms, falsely impersonating banks and financial institutions with whom the victims had business relationships.

These emails requested the victims to transfer payments to the defendants' accounts.

The money was later cashed out or transferred to other accounts, and also spent on purchasing used vehicles in order to conceal the illicit source of the funds.

The Money Laundering Court at the Dubai Courts convicted a 30-member gang and seven companies for laundering money and embezzling AED32 million in an online scam targeting individuals and companies.https://t.co/qPOkm0d3JJ

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) June 12, 2023