Dubai denies laundering money of Somali pirates
Allegations carried by a UK daily have been denied by Dubai police. The Independent claimed that Dubai has been laundering the ransom money belonging to Somali pirates.
The Deputy Commander in Chief of Dubai Maj Gen Khamis Mattar Al-Mazinah in a statemet denied the allegations published by the paper that a large amount of money that was taken in ransom from hijacked vessels were being laundered in Dubai and other Gulf countries.
Around USD 80 million has been paid out in ransom to Somali pirates in 2008.
In his statement to the Arabic daily Al-Emarat Al-Youm, Mr Al-Mazinah said that the British paper’s report was baseless and untruthful and stressed that the UAE was the only state in the region to prosecute money launderers and issue rulings against them.