Document: A shocking number of Israeli companies active in money laundering in the UAE

A government document revealed the massive activity of Israeli companies in money laundering inside the UAE, which has a dark record of covering up these crimes with the involvement of senior officials in the state.

A leaked document from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed that Abu Dhabi represents a money laundering commission that Israeli companies exploit for illegal financial profit.

The document is the minutes of the fifth meeting of the Supreme Committee for Supervising the National Strategy to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing on 11 February 2021.

According to the document, the Director General of the Executive Office for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, Hamed Saif Al-Zaabi, confirms that there are three thousand suspicious banking transactions (STR).

According to the document, at least 120 Israeli companies contribute significantly to these transactions, and the investigation into it is the responsibility of a special committee by order of Mohammed bin Zayed.

Hamid Seif Al-Zaabi also points out that no one else can take up this case.

According to the document, the Director General of the Executive Office for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing added that Turkish companies also contribute to these transactions.

It is followed by 840 Saudi investors and princes who practice economic activities in the UAE without supervision.

According to the document, Al-Zaabi stressed that the FIU had accomplished only 10% of what was required.

For his part, Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Al Shamsi, suggested holding a meeting of the concerned authorities to discuss ways to support the unit.

The Minister of State for Financial Affairs also suggested focusing on increasing the number of the unit’s staff in parallel with achieving the required improvements within the direct results (IOs).

The Minister of State suggested that the concerned members meet with the unit director to consider the issue of its independence and form a board of trustees for it.

According to the document, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security added that the UAE should not be a hotbed for money laundering.

Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi also stressed that previous measures in combating money laundering must be strengthened.

The leaked document proves that the authorities in the United Arab Emirates know very well that the Emirates is a money laundering commission. Still, they do not make any effort to combat it to open the door state-wide to all foreign economic criminals, especially the Israelis.

This caused the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to include the UAE in the list of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring, i.e. the “grey list”.