Dubai busts Dhs185 million law firm fraud involving fake companies, forged emails, and cyber intrusion

Dubai Court of Appeal has upheld the first-instance court’s verdict against 18 suspects of various nationalities, convicted of embezzling approximately Dhs185 million from a law firm, money laundering, leaking sensitive commercial data, and using it to establish fake companies in the UAE and abroad.

According to case files, the court found the suspects guilty of forming a fraud network that laundered the embezzled funds through three companies they established for this purpose. They reportedly used client data from a Dubai-based law firm between 2014 and 2020. The court of first-instance sentenced four of them to three years in jail, followed by deportation, while the remaining suspects received one-year sentences with deportation. Two were also fined Dhs20,000 each and four others were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

The ruling included the confiscation of funds equivalent to the proceeds of the money laundering crime, totaling Dhs113.65 million. Additionally, three companies founded by the suspects were fined Dhs500,000 each. In a separate session, the court acquitted one of the main suspects of breach of trust in a case related to the primary charges.

The case began when the owner of the law firm filed a complaint alleging that a former manager and several employees had embezzled funds by forging official documents and establishing parallel companies using his firm’s identity.

Investigations revealed that the suspects used a fake email address and forged documents resembling those of the original law firm to deceive clients and continue receiving revenues into their private accounts. They also copied and leaked the firm’s client database, contacting clients and international companies that had dealings with the firm, enabling them to redirect revenues to their fake companies.

The investigation further established that the suspects committed large-scale money laundering, with financial transfers exceeding Dhs185 million traced through multiple bank accounts using specially created entities to conceal the funds’ origin and movement. Forensic evidence showed that the suspects used advanced software to hack the law firm’s information systems, deleting original data after copying and falsifying it. They also sent fake emails to convince clients that their legal relationship with the firm remained intact. After appeals were filed, the Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s rulings, confirming the suspects’ involvement in the crimes.