A spokesman for the US State Department confirmed to Al-Hurra, on Tuesday, that the ministry is aware of the arrest of the American citizen, Assem Ghafoor, in the UAE.
“We have discussed the issue of his detention at the highest levels with the UAE authorities and have requested additional information,” the spokesman said.
He added, “We are closely monitoring his case and providing him with appropriate consular support. Consular officials from the United States Embassy in the UAE have visited him seven times, including joining him in the trial proceedings, most recently on August 9.”
The spokesman indicated that the next hearing for Mr. Ghafoor is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday.
“We have conveyed (to the Emirati authorities) our expectations that Mr. Ghafoor will be allowed to have constant contact with the consulate, that he will be provided with fair and transparent legal procedures and that he will be treated in a humane manner,” he said.
“We are aware of the UAE embassy’s August 8 statement regarding the case, and we have no further comments at this time,” concluded the spokesperson, who preferred not to be named.
A statement by the UAE embassy in Washington confirmed, on Monday, the existing cooperation between Abu Dhabi and the United States on the case of Ghafour, the American lawyer accused of tax evasion and money laundering for more than two years.
The statement said that the exchange of information regarding the accused, Ghafoor, is part of the intensified cooperation to combat cross-border money laundering and illicit financing.
The statement comes following the Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court convicted Ghafour of committing two crimes of tax evasion and money laundering related to a tax evasion operation in his country, and sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of three million dirhams, with deportation from the state.
The lawyer was arrested at Dubai airport, last month, while on his way to Istanbul, and the police took him to a detention center in Abu Dhabi.
Ghafour rejected the charges once morest him, and said he had no idea that he had ever been convicted in absentia of these charges.