UAE judiciary and security forces double down on crypto crime

While crypto adoption and regulation has grown in the UAE, with various reports sharing that more than 30% of UAE population own crypto, the UAE judiciary system has upped its game when it comes to dealing with crypto theft and scams, especially given that UAE is one of the top countries where the most crypto value was stolen from victims in 2025.

Chainalysis, 2025 Crypto Crime Mid-year Update: Stolen Funds Surge as DPRK Sets New Records, reported that the UAE topped the countries globally with the most crypto value stolen from victims, almost equal to the statistics for the USA. The average crypto value stolen per victim was around $80,000.

Yet the country is witnessing an increasing number of cases covering crypto. Recently for example a Dubai court ordered a woman to pay Dh4.3 million ( $1.17 million) in compensation after she was found guilty of defrauding an investor of $1 million through a fake cryptocurrency deal, carried out in collusion with her fugitive husband.

The wife during a meeting with the investor who was asked to offer proof of financial solvency before signing an investment contract, , distracting the investor and switching a box containing a digital wallet device holding cryptocurrency access keys with an identical box she had prepared in advance. The switch enabled her to seize the digital assets and transfer them to other parties.

After Dubai authorities launched an investigation, the case was registered as a criminal matter. The Dubai Misdemeanours and Infractions Court convicted the woman of theft, sentencing her to two months in jail, fining her about $1 million, the value of the stolen assets at the time of the crime, and ordering her deportation. The Court of Appeal upheld the ruling, making it final.

Following the criminal conviction, the investor filed a civil lawsuit seeking full compensation for his losses, arguing that the value of the stolen cryptocurrencies had risen significantly during the period he was deprived of them. After hearing the case, the civil court ordered the defendant to pay Dh4.3 million in compensation for losses and lost profits, along with legal interest of 5 per cent until full payment. The court ruled that digital assets are considered property under the law and that compensation should reflect their market value, including any appreciation.

In another case, a Dubai appeals court upheld the conviction of two Asian men found guilty of defrauding a European investor in a fake cryptocurrency deal, affirming their three-month prison sentences and an order to jointly repay $298,000. The court also ruled that both men will be deported after serving their jail terms, bringing the high-value fraud case to a close.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed in November, when the investor reported being enticed into what was presented as a lucrative digital currency transaction. The meeting took place at a hotel in Dubai’s Al Mankhool area, where the investor arrived carrying Dh1.098 million in cash. During the encounter, the fugitive suspect displayed what appeared to be links to an active electronic wallet and finalized the deal. He then took the cash, saying it needed to be checked using a counting machine at the hotel, but never returned. The court ruled that the evidence clearly established fraud, warranting imprisonment, full repayment, and deportation.

Additionally in 2025, after a series of legal battles between Techteryx, which operates the stablecoin TrueUSD, who had invested $456 million of the cryptocurrency’s reserves in the Aria Commodity Finance Fund (ACFF) between 2020 and 2022, UAE based Al Tamimi & Company legal firm was able to secure a worldwide freezing order from DIFC Courts’ Digital Economy Court to preserve up to $456 million.

Despite this, there has been instances where crypto scams have led to murder in the UAE. The bodies of Russian crypto investor Roman Novak and his wife, Anna, were discovered in a UAE desert nearly a month after they went missing. UAE authorities suspected their deaths were linked to a massive $500-million cryptocurrency scam. To date no one has been arrested for this crime.

Dubai Police has been vigilant when it comes to crypto crime

During the years between 2022 and 2024 Dubai Police revealed that they had conducted money laundering financial investigation cases including $16.3 million ( 60 million AED) in virtual assets, or crypto asset cases. This did not include a case where The Dubai Economic Security Center disrupted a $49 million crypto money laundering operation. Both investigations led to a total of $65.3 million crypto money laundering investigation cases.

Additionally in 2025, The UAE Ministry of Interior teamed up with Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority to collaborate for combating virtual asset financial crimes. The agreement highlighted the UAE’s commitment to safeguarding its financial system while fostering leadership in the digital economy.

The MoU aimed to unify efforts in information sharing on virtual asset service providers, illicit transactions, and unlawful practices. By facilitating a rapid and secure exchange of data between VARA and the Ministry of Interior, the parties hope to ensure that the virtual assets sector in the UAE remains secure, innovative, and aligned with international standards.

Furthermore in 2025, The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM (FSRA) and the UAE Ministry of Interior, partnered to coordinate and combat financial crimes in the virtual asset, crypto realm.

UAE opened up to crypto while enforcing virtual asset regulations

There are many reasons why the UAE crypto users are losing the most in crypto. First the number of crypto users in the UAE has reached 30% of the population. Secondly UAE between July 2023 and June 2024, received $30 billion in crypto, ranking the country among the top 40 globally in this regard and making it MENA’s third largest crypto economy. In 2025, the number increase, to an estimated $53-56 billion in total crypto value within a 12-month reporting window, positioning it as the second-largest crypto economy in the MENA region behind Turkey.

The UAE has also set up a regulatory environment that allows for crypto trading, investment and even payments in AED stablecoins, while being one of the countries in the GCC with the most international mesh of global citizens.