A gang of 40 men has been sentenced to jail for fraud, money laundering and illegal economic activities at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court.
The men were sentenced to prison for terms ranging between five and 10 years and were fined a total of about Dh860m, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department announced on Tuesday.
Judges heard how the men created a fake electronic currency platform and duped victims into handing over cash under the guise of investing in the scheme.
The court heard how the gang – 17 Emirati, 16 Iranian, two Indian, a Saudi, a Mauritanian, an American, a Greek and a Comorian – convinced their victims they could make profits of between 16 per cent and 18 per cent a month on their investment.
They gang claimed the funds were being converted into a fake digital currency called Foin.
Twenty three were sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of Dh10m; 11 were sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Dh10m; and one was sentenced to five years and a fine of Dh10m. Five men were sentenced to six months and fined Dh20,000 each.
All their assets and proceeds from the crime were confiscated and 23 of the gang will be deported.
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Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
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