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DUBAI – British authorities said on Wednesday they had busted a cash courier ring that allegedly smuggled more than $100 million into Dubai from Britain. united arab emirates.
Before the arrest of 11 couriers, a UAE official said the country needed more time to crack down on money laundering.
In 83 trips between November 2019 and October 2020, couriers laundered and smuggled more than £104 million ($130 million) from the UK into Dubai, the UK’s National Crime Agency said. Couriers are paid about $3,750 per trip and receive business-class airfare due to the extra baggage allowance. Each bag carried about $620,000 and weighed about 40 kilograms (88 pounds). According to the agency, they coordinated their operations via WhatsApp.
Adrian Searle, head of the agency’s economic crimes unit, said: “The laundering of such large amounts of cash globally enables organized criminals and corrupt elites to launder or hide their ill-gotten gains. ”
Eleven of the couriers have now been convicted following four guilty verdicts on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates is still investigating an unknown number of people, the National Crime Agency said.
who are they: Among the convicted couriers was model and ex-girlfriend of former world champion British boxer Joe Calzaghe, Jo Emma Lavine.
Lavin, 44, made two trips to Dubai in August and September 2020. She was carrying $2.74 million and then $3.48 million each with her partner, Jonathan Johnson, who was also convicted Tuesday.
The conviction came after investigators determined that Tara Hanlon, who was convicted of money laundering in June 2021, briefed another courier on the operation. Hanlon traveled from Heathrow Airport to Dubai three times in August and September 2020 and checked in 18 suitcases totaling $8.47 million in cash.
Beatrice Auty, who was convicted on Tuesday, took the same route as Hanlon twice in July and August 2020. She checked seven suitcases containing $4.24 million. The 26-year-old was also involved in arranging 16 other trips, packing cash into suitcases and collecting empty suitcases at Heathrow for reuse. Auty was arrested in an NCA raid in May 2021. The NCA said Larvin and Johnson were arrested at Manchester Airport in March 2022.
Five other couriers pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and will join those convicted on Tuesday for sentencing at a later date. Other courier companies are still under investigation.
Why it matters: The UAE was placed on the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s “grey list” in 2022, a sign of serious money laundering in the country. Since then, the Gulf state has sought to increase financial transparency. January, UAE Central Bank Issues New Anti-Money Laundering GuidelinesFor example.
However, UAE officials say they need more time to crack down on money laundering. Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, the UAE’s economy minister, told Bloomberg on Tuesday, “We deliver a lot of our policies, a lot of our regulations, but effectiveness means you need to enforce fines and so on. That will only happen with time.”
learn more: The UAE has also been involved in a number of sanctions violations in recent years.Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Sanctioned UAE companies Allegedly helping Russia evade sanctions related to the Ukraine war.
UAE authorities have also been struggling to comply with Russian sanctions. In March, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates canceled the license of Russia’s MTS Bank, citing sanctions risks.
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