UAE Orders Local Banks to Freeze Accounts in Drug Money Case

Via aljazeera.net -

The United Arab Emirates has ordered local banks to freeze the accounts of 21 individuals and nine businesses suspected of involvement in laundering drug money, the UAE central bank governor said on Saturday.

Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi did not give details about the size of the alleged money laundering, which he said was still under investigation.

The money came from drug sales in Western countries, he said, without being more specific.

Suweidi told reporters: "Money was pushed into European banks and came here through front companies."

"All of the businesses were shut down and the individuals taken into police custody."

Countries in the Gulf, the world's top oil exporting region, have been fighting money laundering, particularly since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

But experts say that money obtained by illegal means is still around.

The UAE passed an anti-money laundering law in 2002 and imposed restrictions on transfers.

The maximum penalty for money laundering in the UAE is seven years in prison and a 10 million dirham ($2.72 million) fine, Suweidi said.

The suspects in the case did not use the UAE's system of hawala, or informal money transfer, Suweidi said.