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UAE freezes n-linked accounts
UAE Central Bank has frozen all accounts related to SMB Computers a Lankan businessman's company, accused by Bush of brokering black-market deals for n-technology.
Emirates financial authorities have frozen the accounts of SMB Computers, a company founded by a Sri Lankan businessman accused by U.S. President George W. Bush of brokering black-market deals for nuclear technology. An investigation is under way involving the Central Bank, the Dubai Prosecutor General and other agencies, Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suweidi said Sunday.
"The UAE Central Bank has frozen all accounts related to SMB Computers Co. as part of the investigation," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference held in the capital, Abu Dhabi, to regulate an informal system of money transfer known as hawala. Al-Suweidi said earlier that authorities also have confiscated US$3 million in terror-related funds and frozen 14 accounts of companies and individuals named on lists by the United Nations and the United States. He did not identify them.
SMB is a Dubai-based company established by Buhary Abu Syed Tahir and his brother, Syed Ibrahim Buhary, that Bush alleged Tahir used as a front for clandestine movement of parts for nuclear centrifuges. The company is part of a small-business empire with interests in Pakistan, Iran and Libya, key countries linked to the clandestine nuclear weapons network.
Al-Suweidi said results of the investigation will be revealed soon. Authorities also shut down the company's operations in Dubai, The Gulf News daily reported Monday.
Tahir, who is married to a Malaysian, is believed to be living in Malaysia, where he has been questioned by police and kept under surveillance, but is not in custody.
U.S. and Western investigators have warned Dubai's banking, trade and visa regulations could be easily abused for money laundering and illicit trade. About half the US$250,000 spent on the Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks. Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.