Dozens of businesses involved in hawala money transfer have been visited by UK police to warn them about becoming involved with people smugglers.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it went to 44 premises across the UK, along with tax officials, in response to hawala brokers, who are classified as hawaladars, being increasingly linked to people smuggling crime. Hawala is a system that operates on a basis of transfer of value without actual movement of money and it relies heavily on trust between hawaladars and their customers, and within the networks themselves.
Known as hawala providers in the UAE, they are used by migrant workers to send remittances back home. UK authorities fear they are exploited by both people smugglers and migrants to arrange payments out of sight of law enforcement.
The move against abuse of the hawala system is the latest phase of government action to reduce small boat crossings across the English Channel and cut migration. Alex Murray, the NCA's Director Threat Leadership, said immigration crime is a “deadly threat” that led to more than 70 deaths in the Channel last year alone and that “criminal gangs are behind these crossings”. Mr Murray said the agency's 70 continuing investigations into people smuggling networks include going after those “who enable, support and financially benefit from this criminal activity”.
“Money service businesses provide an important service, and the vast majority are compliant with regulation,” he said. “However, it is absolutely key that all those who work in this sector remain vigilant, report suspicious activity, and play their part to stop this horrific crime. Those who don’t will be pursued and prosecuted as harshly as those directly involved in organising the crossings.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has instructed law enforcement to “smash the gangs” and tackle people smugglers using the same tactics as are used in dealing with terrorism.
As well as arrests in Iraq’s Kurdistan region under an agreement with the Iraqi government, the UK government has promised to impose sanctions on people smugglers and those who supply them with boats. But any effort to deal with financing of people smuggling will have to deal with criminals using the hawala system.
The most common way hawala works is that a person wanting to transfer money to a person in another country goes to a hawaladar to deposit the funds, along with a commission. The person is given a code or a password to pass on to the recipient of the funds. The hawaladar tells a trusted counterpart in the country where the money is to be transferred to hand over the cash on presentation of the code or password.
Using messaging apps, migrants can use the system to finance their journeys across thousands of miles without having to carry cash with them, while people smugglers can hide their profits and recycle them into legitimate businesses. Hawaladars depend on a steady stream of business and many operate money transfer as part of other businesses. For those involved in people smuggling this also acts as cover.
Iranian hawaladar Asghar Gheshalghian was jailed in the UK for eight years after being convicted of running an unregistered money services business that served people smuggling networks. Gheshalghian used a carpet-selling business as a front for his part of a network of bankers transferring money using the hawala system.
Kurdish people smugglers Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, who pleaded guilty to organising people smuggling at the end of last year, used the hawala system to take payments from migrants and arrange for smugglers to be paid. His conviction came after Hewa Rahimpur, who also acted as a hawala banker for people trafficking gangs and smuggled 10,000 migrants across the English Channel in small boats, earning up to £260,000 ($329,650) per trip, was sentenced to 11 years in a Belgian jail.
Louise MacDonald, deputy director of economic crime at HM Revenue and Customs Fraud Investigation Service, said that the “vast majority” of hawaladars want to avoid the people smuggling trade. “It is absolutely key that all those who work in this sector remain vigilant, report suspicious activity, and play their part to stop this horrific crime,” she said. “Those who don’t will be pursued and prosecuted as harshly as those directly involved in organising the crossings.”
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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The years Ramadan fell in May
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
