The Court of the United Arab Emirates ordered the extradition of a foreigner to his homeland for tax evasion.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Supreme Court upheld the decision to extradite a citizen of one of the Asian states, accused of tax evasion and economic fraud.
The Attorney General's Office referred the case of the wanted suspect to the Criminal Department at the Federal Court of Appeal. The question was examined whether the accused should be transferred to the authorities in his native country.
The man is accused of fraud, possession of foreign currency, abuse of office, tax evasion. He denies the charges against him. His defense insists that the arrest warrant was issued in the absence of the defendant and five years after the fact of the crime, which exceeds the period specified in article 18 of Law No. 39 of 2006 in relation to international judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
The Federal Supreme Court made its decision on the basis of the fact that the extradition order came from the federal authorities of another country. The warrant was drawn up in accordance with the agreements signed between this country and the UAE. The decision to extradite was made instead of arrest.
The court indicated that the accompanying documents were sufficient for an extradition order if they were certified by the seal of the judicial authority that conducted the investigation, or by the competent administrative authority.
Recall that in December 2017, the UAE issued a statement in which they expressed their disappointment at the inclusion of the country in the list of “jurisdictions not complying with EU principles”. Authorities made official statements confirming that the UAE remained "committed to upholding international standards." According to UAE Deputy Foreign Minister Younis Haji Al Khuri, "The UAE is working to comply with the requirements of the European Union in terms of tax information exchange." At the beginning of this year, the UAE, along with a number of other jurisdictions, left the list of “tax havens”.
According to Olga Melnik, senior specialist for custom solutions at VIRTUZONE Elite, the United Arab Emirates took various measures at the beginning of this year to increase transparency in the financial sector and to withdraw from the list of tax haven countries. This led to the emergence of additional requirements when registering a business in the UAE.
“Today, when opening corporate accounts in the UAE, banks clarify in detail the nature of the business of their future customers and the source of their income, therefore they often request additional documents in the form of contracts, letters from partners, business plans, etc.,” Olga said .
