ABU DHABI: More than 60 accused in the case of Dh1.3 billion car sales and investments fraud, have denied charges of money laundering before the Abu Dhabi Court of Misdemeanours on Monday.

An army of defence lawyers representing the more than 60 accused challenged the Abu Dhabi Police and public prosecution investigations in the court.

Defending lawyers told the court that the charges of money laundering, fraud and cheating are baseless and that these charges will be proved wrong in the court when the case progresses.

However, the judge ordered the defendants to produce their witnesses and evidence for the next hearing scheduled for September 10.

In March, the Abu Dhabi Police arrested a 43-member gang that ran a bogus investment fund and collected Dh1.3 billion from 3,700 people, and was referred to the public prosecution.

According to the police, this amount was estimated from around 3,700 bank cheques collected by the suspects for one of the three bogus investment portfolios.

Mohammad Al Suwaidi, managing partner of Al Suwaidi and Company, an advocates and legal consultant firm, refuted in court all charges of money laundering on behalf of his clients.

Al Suwaidi told Gulf News, “All charges of money laundering levied on our clients by the police and public prosecution are wrong, our clients must be freed.

The public prosecution and the police filed a case of money laundering against my clients, which appears to be untrue. If that were to be the case, the money should have been generated from criminal sources like drugs and prostitution and transferred to unknown sources. [Instead] all the money was taken from people on grounds of purchasing and selling vehicles. They are in the same business for the last 10 years and were running it legally,” Al Suwaidi said.

Among the accused are two Emirati brothers. One is charged with money laundering, cheating, running a commercial activity without licence, while the other is accused of possessing money without a legal source.

Al Suwaidi said that the latter was in fact given Dh600,000 or Dh700,000 by his brother, though he was charged with keeping money without a legal source.

He kept that money to carry out house maintenance, Al Suwaidi added.

He asserted that when the case progresses, the truth will reveal itself and set his clients free.

Four different cases were filed against the accused whose total number reached 61 people of different nationalities.

Amal Ahmad Al Ameri, a defence lawyer, said, “Most of [the accused] denied their involvement in money laundering and fraud; they told the court that they are licensed to pursue the profession.”

Al Ameri said the first case of fraud comprised 38 people, the second 19, the third involved one individual and the fourth involved three or [four persons]. “The charges include money laundering, fraud and running the business without licensing.”

All the accused were present in the court on Monday. The presiding judge verified each and every accused and questioned them on their involvement but all of them refuted the charges.

Abu Dhabi Police said the suspects lured customers to buy cars from them and subsequently encouraged them to sell the cars through them at a higher price, offering them big returns. They issued post-dated cheques to the investors. People who initially got tempted by the scheme received the promised profit, which encouraged others to join, a scheme that went on for some time.

The police said that by March this year, 400 people had lost their money, and they approached the police. Cases have been registered in various police stations in Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain and Western Region during the past five days.