Anti-corruption authorities in the United Arab Emirates announced Saturday the arrest of six high-ranking customs officials on charges of siphoning off millions of dollars.
The officials had "exploited their jobs for personal ends for illegal gains" and were arrested on the orders of Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum after a two-year surveillance operation, authorities said.
"They siphoned off tens of millions of dirhams," they said in a statement published by papers, adding that all monies had been recovered. One dirham is worth $3.67.
Among those arrested were the director-general of Dubai's department of ports and customs, Obeid Saqer Bust, and the director of Hamriyya port, Ali Hassan Fulaz.
The four others arrested, three of whom were Pakistanis, worked at the customs department.
Other officials remain under surveillance and face arrest if suspicions of corruption are proven against them, authorities said. – (AFP, Dubai)
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