Can people accused of money laundering in Dubai be brought to justice in the UK?
Recently, there’s been an effort to crack down on money laundering from places like Dubai and Thailand.
We’ve seen many cases involving cryptocurrency, where the crypto is moved from exchanges like Coinbase to another wallet in another jurisdiction. Law enforcement authorities follow the money and try to recover it if they believe that it is linked to criminal activity.
Actions like this raise the question of whether or not defendants who are based in Dubai can be brought to justice in the UK.
Some people think that if they are in Dubai, then they are beyond the reach of the UK legal system. But that’s not the case. In fact, one high-profile defendant was recently given a court order against him in the UK, despite being resident in Dubai.
We’ll have a look at that case in this blog, and explain the legal reasons behind it. Then we’ll explain how it applies to other cases and how you may be affected if you’re in a similar situation.
Brief facts of the case
The case was called Director of Public Prosecutions v Alexander Surin. The defendant, Alexander Surin, had to give up around £3.5 million worth of Bitcoin because it was decided that he had received the money through drug trafficking and money laundering.
Alexander Surin said that he received the Bitcoin in the course of legitimate trading activities in gold bullion, luxury watches, and cars, which he carried on from his base in Dubai. He said that he had lived in Dubai since 2011.
Despite this, the judge made an order against him to recover the Bitcoin.
How was this possible for the defendant to be given a UK court order when he was living in Dubai?
The need for a UK connection
The UK law is far-reaching and it allows for a UK court to may make a recovery order in respect of property wherever it is situated. It also allows orders to be made against a person wherever they are domiciled, resident, or present.
But an order cannot be made in respect of property that is outside the UK unless there has been a connection between the case and the UK.
The connection in this case was that the defendant was a British citizen, albeit resident in Dubai.
He was accused of a conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and to launder money. This is conduct which is criminal under English law.
Under POCA, the criminality does not have to be an offence committed in the UK. The offence can be committed overseas. As long as it would be classed as an offence in the UK, the civil recovery proceedings are valid in the UK.
Other cases
This is not the first time that the UK court has intervened in criminal activity with a connection to Dubai.
Last year, two people were jailed for laundering cash in suitcases from the UK to Dubai. The amount in this case was around £104 million in total and the cash couriers were sentenced to two years in prison.
There are other cases in which networks of criminals have laundered cash in the UK, using unlicenced cryptocurrency intermediaries to send illicit funds to recipients in Dubai.
Partnership between UK and Dubai to tackle illicit finance
Given the rise of suspected money laundering between the UK and Dubai, and the increasing use of cryptocurrency as a vehicle to do it, the UK and UAE now have a partnership to tackle organised crime. It bolsters law enforcement by allowing the countries to share intelligence more freely and collaborate on joint operations.
How we can help
If you’ve been caught up in some form of money laundering activities, we can help you put your best foot forward in the legal proceedings.
We can help you with a constructive dialogue with the enforcement agency and handle negotiations for you.
If your case goes to court, we can respond to the demands of the legal proceedings and prepare a defence for you. Please do get in touch if you’d like to discuss your case.
0333 3448377 | info@harewoodlaw.com