Six companies fined Dhs3 million for suspicious business relationships, money laundering

The Ministry of Economy has conducted inspection tours to monitor the operations of designated non-financial business or professions (DNFBP) sector companies that are subject to its supervision, which include real estate agents and brokers; precious metals and gemstone dealers; auditors; and corporate service providers.

The initiative falls in line with the Ministry’s annual plan to ensure the sector’s compliance with the provisions stipulated by Federal Decree-Law No. (20) of 2018 on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and illegal organisations (AML/CFT), and its executive regulations and related laws, in addition to ensuring the country’s full compliance with the international standards issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The inspections fined six DNFBP companies for their failure to adhere to the internal policies and controls established to combat crime; engaging in suspicious business relationships; and failure to adopt necessary measures to limit the risks of crime in the field of work; in addition to their failure to strengthen AML procedures and monitor/report suspicious transactions.

As a result, total of 59 fines amounting to Dhs3,200,000 were levied on them for the violation of Cabinet Decision No. 16 of 2021 on the unified list of the violations and administrative penalties for the said violations.

The total number of companies/entities operating in the DNFBP sector under the Ministry’s supervision is approximately 15,000.

WAM