Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi police have detained a man who was carrying Dh12 million cash in his luggage.
The 37-year-old Asian man claimed that he was asked by a currency exchange in his home country to transfer the amount to another currency exchange in the UAE.
He was promised Dh2,000 and a business class ticket.
Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, Head of the Organised Crime Section at the Abu Dhabi Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said that airport security authorities grew suspicious of the man who was carrying various currencies totalling Dh12 million hidden in his luggage.
Employed as clerk
The man is employed as a clerk for a private company specialising in paving marble and floor tiles in the country.
"Investigations revealed that the money belongs to the money exchange in the country, but the man was not aware that carrying such an amount is a wrong and doubtful act, and the money must be transferred through a proper money transfer method," Col Bu Rasheed said.
The amount included Dh1.5 million, 7.65 million Saudi riyals, (Dh7.48 million) 50,000 Qatari riyals, (Dh50,426) 1,000 Omani riyals (Dh475,072) 223,500 euros (Dh1,115,710) and £310,000 (Dh1,715,470)
The money laundering law No 4 for 2002 defines money laundering as every act that involves carrying, transferring or depositing money without disclosing the method by which the amount was obtained.
The punishment for this crime according to article 13 of the law, is imprisonment for not more than seven years and a fine of not more than Dh300,000 and not less than Dh30,000 or both punishments along with the seizure of the money or the property.
Police: Avoid suspicion
Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, Head of the Organised Crime Section at the Abu Dhabi Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), urged passengers not to carry huge amounts of cash to avoid being suspected by police and not to fall into the hands of criminals and thieves.
He advised people to adopt modern ways of money transfer via official channels followed by banks and currency exchange houses in the country.
