Q: Dear fellow colleagues, A client of mine, resident in Dubai, would like to open a criminal case against an expat who is not anymore in Dubai. The "gentleman" stole 8.3 bitcoins (!) promising a huge return in interest (5% per month, still advertised on the internet), then he stole a client's database with more than 600 passports, phone numbers, signatures... Breach of trust, theft, IT crime, and so on... We are looking for a colleague in the UAE to give a POA and open one or more criminal cases, following the case in the court up to the first instance. The goal is to have a sentence, also knowing that the gentleman is no more in Dubai. Thank you Dr W. F.

Q: What is the best way to recover money from a cryptocurrency exchange scam? The platform I'm using to trade cryptocurrency is based in Singapore but operated by Chinese people. I have invested 150k AED into it, coming all from my credit cards. When I wanted to withdraw money, the customer service said that I need to pay taxes on the profit amount. After paying taxes to them, they are now saying the financial intelligence department found that my account is abnormal and suspected of money laundering due to recent frequent trades and excessive txn volume. They want me to deposit 20% of my account amt (10k USD) within a week to prove that I didn't launder money, or it will be frozen and will report me to the FI dept. Can you please advise if this is legal according to the laws and regulations of Singapore? I don't have money anymore to pay them and I think it's just a scam. The platform recently had the system upgraded and changed; no license, no t&cs, no physical address, no phone number. Shall I report to the police now?

Q: I believe that I am a victim of a crypto scam. I met a girl on tinder on 17/06/21 and after talking, we exchanged numbers. She onboarded me to Binance using step-by-step screenshots, helping me to set up an account. She then asked me to set up an account on another platform which I now believe is a fake platform. Over a period of three months, she consistently encouraged me to deposit more and more money, and I was making huge returns. In total, I deposited around 250k USD and supposedly had returns of 850k USD. But just recently when I tried to withdraw some of this, my withdrawal was declined and customer services told me I had to pay 150k USD in tax in order to access these funds. I was very suspicious now and refused to pay. It was at this point that customer service stopped replying to me. I hope I can recoup some of the losses and this person can be brought to justice.

Q: Hi Lawyers, A lot of people had invested in a Forex trading company based in the UAE. Do we need to get a lawyer to file a case or can we report it to the police station to summon the party involved so they can settle and refund our money back? Please help us. Thank you!

Q: I have not done any trading online before. However, I found one company that is recommended by the UAE government that I contacted online and I was called shortly after that and trading started. I had no education on what is going on and my account manager was the one who tells me what to do, like close trade, open trade, buy or sell and how many lots to put. I lost approx. AED 70000 in 6 days. Do I have a case and can I retrieve my money back?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I started online trading on behalf of a woman. With her trust, I made around 15 transactions totaling approximately 67,480 AED to a local person in the UAE, but I feel that it was a scam. Now, I want to recover my money. How can I do that?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I invested money in a forex trading platform, but later discovered it is an unlicensed fraud company that is scamming many people. They had claimed to have a license and have an office in Dubai. Two people have already filed a case against them. I want to know the best way to proceed and recover my invested amount. Thanks in advance!

Q: It's a blackmail case. So a few days ago, I needed to buy cryptocurrency in Dubai, and a friend offered he could help me. But I was a little short of money, I mean I wanted to get 20,000 dirhams worth of crypto but had only 15k. So my friend told me it was okay, and he would arrange the 5k for me. So I transferred him 15k in his bank account and for the rest 5k, I gave him a cheque. He was supposed to transfer me crypto by that evening. But 2-3 days passed and he did not send me crypto and he seemed to become very busy, not responding to calls and messages. After a week, I finally got hold of him and then he backfired saying crypto is illegal in Dubai, he can't help me with this and that, and he started saying I owe him 5k, so I need to clear him for that. He submitted that cheque to the bank and it bounced. He filed a case in court and today he sent me a message he's publishing news in the newspaper for the court notice and will put a travel ban on me.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, There's a guy who scammed me out of 150k AED with false documents. There's already a criminal case ongoing against him; however, I wasn't aware of it at the time of the dealing. Every time I tried to sort things out with him, he made me wait for hours and didn't show up. In short, he gave me false hopes, and now he's been completely out of touch for 4 months. When we were finally able to contact him, my wife sent him abusive messages out of frustration because he was spreading lies about us. Now, with all the evidence I have, I want to file a civil case against him. Could the abusive messages my wife sent backfire in any way? I have all the documents he gave, along with some voice notes where he clearly states that he scammed us with false documents. But this guy is very shrewd. He verbally abused me and my wife in person but I don't have proof of it.

Q: I need legal guidance regarding a situation where a friend repeatedly borrowed money from me, promising to return double the amount because she claimed to be a professional trader. My concern is whether it is legal in the UAE for someone to take money from another individual to trade on their behalf without any formal agreement or license. I want to understand if her actions constitute a violation of any financial or trading regulations, and whether her promises of high returns could be classified as fraudulent or illegal under UAE law. Any clarification on the legality of these actions and the potential repercussions would be appreciated.

مع صدور قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (58) لسنة (2020) في شان تنظيم إجراءات المستفيد الحقيقي، ومدى مساهمته في الحد من جريمة غسيل الأموال و تمويل الإرهاب، لا بد بدايةً من معرفة مفهوم غسيل الأموال و تمويل الإرهاب. تُعرَّف عملية غسل الأموال بأنها كل معاملة مالية أو مصرفية تهدف إلى إخفاء أو تغيير هوية الأموال المتحصلة بطرق غير قانونية، وذلك بتمريرها عبر النظام المالي والمصرفي لكي تظهر على أنها نابعة من مصادر شرعية، و من ثَمَّ إعادة ضخها واستثمارها بشكل قانوني مغاير لحقيقتها.

The new law is applicable to all entities dealing with virtual assets that are set up on the mainland as well as free zones, including special development zones. However, it does not apply to the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), which will have its own set of rules and regulations governing all virtual assets entities registered with the DIFC.

Blackwater International, a leading private security and investigative company, has established a reputation for handling complex and high-stakes operations. One of the most challenging areas the company has ventured into is cryptocurrency asset recovery. This case study explores a recent successful recovery operation conducted by Blackwater International, highlighting their methodology, challenges faced, and the impact of their efforts.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

The law defines the crimes related to money laundering, commitments and the jurisdictions of the governmental authorities, and the sanctions against perpetrators of money laundering.