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, said press reports.
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, an official told the Gulf News.
"They siphoned off tens of millions of dirhams,” said the source, adding that all monies had been recovered.
Among those arrested were the director-general of Dubai's department of ports and customs, Obeid Saqer Bust, and the director of Hamriya port, Ali Hassan Fulaz, said the paper.
The four others arrested, three of whom were Pakistanis, worked in the customs department.
Other officials remain under surveillance and face arrest if suspicions of corruption are proven against them, the official told the paper.
A statement by the department said that “other government officials are under observation in an effort to discover if they are also involved in corruption."
"The Administrative Anti-Corruption Unit, which has many branches in all government departments, calls on all officials to fear God, to be honest in exercising their government assignments and not to favor anyone at the expense of the public interest," said the statement.
The Anti-Corruption Unit was established by Sheikh Mohammed to fight corruption in all government departments established in Dubai emirate.
The unit reports directly to Sheikh Mohammed -- Albawaba.com
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