TL; Dr:
- Transferring or depositing funds to unknown or rejected accounts, especially for strangers, is a criminal offense
UAE Law. - Under the Federal Law Number 20/2018, the sentence for money laundering can be 1-10 years in jail and AED to AED to 5 million fines.
- Federal decree law number 34/2021 also applies to similar acts done through electronic means, which consists of imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 5 million fine.
- The UAE public prosecution has urged the public to take extreme care, even obedient intentions do not give exemption to individuals with legal liabilities.
In the light of recent legal matters, UAE officials have issued a strong warning: helping strangers to collect or transfer money, even as a favor, may be the result of criminal allegations for money laundering. Under the UAE laws, individuals who use their personal identity to deposit or transfer money for unknown parties can withstand imprisonment and heavy fines of up to ten years, even if they are unaware of the origin or intentions of money. This latest advisor confirms that negligence or good belief does not exempt legal accountability under the country’s strict financial crime laws.
Legal framework: Understanding punishment
According to the federal law number 20 of 2018, transferring money linked to its source, transferring money related to criminal income for the intention of deliberately hiding its source, forms a money laundering offense. Article 22 of this law determines this punishment:
- 1 to 10 years in jail
- AED 100,000 ($ 27,225) to AED 5 million ($ 1.36 million), or fine from both
On combating rumors and cyber offenses under the federal decree law number 34 of 2021, similar punishment is applied when electronic means are used to hide or move illegal money:
- 10 years imprisonment
- 5 million, or both fined
These laws insist on the fact that with the intention of obscuring transaction, even spontaneously, individuals can expose to serious criminal liabilities.
Real world risks: Why such transactions are illegal
The strict stance of the UAE stems from its ongoing commitment to combat money laundering, terrorism funding and financial fraud, which can exploit all innocent citizens, which seems to be such as transferring money from others through minor acts. Criminal networks often rely on unheard individuals, sometimes referred to as “money mules”, so that illegal money can be transferred without detection. To operate these transactions, criminals try to break the audit trail and avoid investigation from law enforcement or financial monitoring units, using regular bank customers. Therefore, the law not only commits a crime for the act of funds, but also inadvertently done any desire or careless facility of such transactions. The goal is to shut down legal flaws and to mask your financial trails for criminal enterprises.
Public Prosecution: Official Guidance and Risk Advisor
The UAE’s public prosecution has issued a clear statements, advising the residents to never accept the requests to transfer or deposit money from the strangers. It reiterated that using someone’s ID card or banking credentials to meet such transactions, even under a valid pretense, is legally risky and can lead to formal allegations. Officials insisted that individuals should consider these matters as non-optional: Even if agreed or tricked, they can still be held responsible until they immediately report the incident to the authorities.
Best Practice: If you receive unexpected money or request
UAE officials and banks recommend these stages for safety:
- Refuse to transfer or deposit money for someone you do not know personally.
- Do not transfer or take back the unexpected amount received through a stranger’s mistake, they can be detected back into criminal activity.
- Report immediately to your bank and relevant officers, like
Dubai police Through 901 Or anti-fraud hotline. - Maintain records of all communication and reactions as evidence.
These measures help individuals unknowingly protect them from joining financial irregularities. What can seem like an innocent gesture, transferring money from a stranger can lead to serious legal consequences in the United Arab Emirates. Under strict money laundering and cyber crime laws, individuals who facilitate suspected transactions, even unknowingly, can face a decade in jail and in millions of fines. The Legal and Safety Authority underlines that the ignorance of the law is not a defense, and the financial conduct responsible in all individual banking interactions should be the standard.