Former Danish currency trader indicted in UAE

The former Danish currency exchange operator, who has been indicted by a UAE court on charges of conspiring to commit money laundering, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison in the UAE, the US justice department said on Tuesday.

A man known as Abu Hamza al-Tawfiq has been charged with conspiring to embezzle money from an Emirati bank.

The US Department of Justice said it was aware of the case but had no further comment.

Abu Hamza Al-Tashfiq, 35, was a partner in Dubai-based exchange-traded fund company DFX Global Holdings, which was set up in 2015 to facilitate transactions in the Muslim world’s largest trading nation.

It is not known if he was part of any meetings or how much money he was trying to emigrate.

In September, the UAE Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling against his extradition.

In a statement, US Attorney David Cohen said Abu Hamzah Al-Sabah, the brother of the deceased Danish trader, “was the main facilitator of the illegal financial transactions in Dubai”.

The case is being prosecuted by the US Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud and Cybercrime Section and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.