Sentence on Central Bank fraud on Jan 18

An Abu Dhabi criminal court set January 18 to issue its sentence in the case involving an attempt to embezzle massive funds from the UAE central bank, the semi official daily Alittihad reported on Wednesday.

The court heard witnesses at its Tuesday’s trial of three defendants, one of whom is still at large, the paper said.

“The court decided to issue its sentence in this case on January 18…it involves two attempts to embezzle large sums of money from the central bank,” it said.

During hearings two months ago, the prosecutor sought the maximum penalty against the defendants.

The main culprit in the case is Farzin Ali Karoryan Mutlaq, an Iranian, who also was a key suspect in a previous swindle attempt against the central bank.

In a statement in June, Abu Dhabi police and the central bank said they had foiled a $14.4 billion (Dh52.84 billion) fraud attempt against a local bank.

The statement did not name the bank but financial sources said later it was the government-controlled Union National Bank.

According to the statement, the main suspects are Mutlaq and two others, an unnamed Iranian national and an American of Iranian origin.

It was the fourth consecutive fraud attempt to be foiled in nearly a year, the statement said, adding that the four operations involved about Dh244.60 billion.

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