Eight people found guilty of money laundering and fraud have been fined AED 10 million each by a court in Abu Dhabi.
They have also been handed jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years, while four of them will be deported.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court found them guilty of fraudulently dealing in cars using dud cheques and hiding the actual proceeds of their illegal transactions.
All the assets and proceeds from the crime will be confiscated. Two other defendants in the case were found not guilty.
Investigations revealed how the individuals operated as a team to defraud people looking to sell their cars online.
They bought the cars in exchange for cheques linked to empty bank accounts and repeatedly transferred ownership of vehicles between themselves to hide the original source of the money.
The investigations were carried out by the Public Prosecution in coordination with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the UAE Central Bank.
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