Abu Dhabi, September 07: Authorities have broken up a crime ring accused of circulating fraudulent Dh1 million currency notes, the UAE Central Bank said on Sunday.
The gang, which included individuals of various nationalities, was involved in distributing the fake notes and presenting photocopies of “documents” attributed to the Central Bank, the bank said in a statement. “Such activities were detected by the Central Bank and other concerned authorities, and (the) perpetrators were transferred to law enforcement agencies in Abu Dhabi for further action,” the bank said. The statement gave no further details about the alleged crimes or the individuals accused of committing them. The disclosure emerged at a meeting of the central bank’s National Anti-Money Laundering Committee in Dubai last Thursday. The UAE’s anti-money laundering body, chaired by Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, discussed issues related to an expansion of its operations.
In one such step, the bank’s Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit — a sort of financial intelligence agency — has signed memoranda of understanding with its counterparts in 21 countries in an effort to coordinate anti-money laundering operations.
The UAE plans to sign MOUs with 82 additional countries that are members of the Egmont Group, a protocol among nations fighting against money laundering, the Central Bank said.
–Agencies