UAE police in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have arrested 19 people in a series of raids on companies involved in corporate research and commercial investigation, charging them with “using illegal surveillance equipment," reported the Gulf News on Sunday.
The raids involved three companies in the two emirates: SSS Corporate Research, Middle East Research Group, Vision and Leisure International.
"Nineteen employees of three companies have been arrested and we are investigating with a view to collecting information," said Dubai Attorney General Ibrahim BuMelha. "Each of the companies is licensed. There are some Britons among the arrested employees."
Plainclothes police officers raided the Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices of SSS Corporate Research last Tuesday and staff members were arrested.
A source at the company's Cyprus headquarters said, "We know very little. As far as we are aware, 17 of our staff in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were arrested on Tuesday.
"They include Britons and staff from the Philippines, Morocco, Jordan and Yemen. We have appointed lawyers and are trying to find out why they are being held.
"Our company's work is 90 percent intellectual property rights enforcement and we do not use surveillance equipment."
The company lists a number of blue chip companies among its clients including Pioneer, Epson, Proctor and Gamble, Mitsubishi and Samsung as well as a number of international banks and accountancy firms, said the paper - Albawaba.com
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