Court Cuts Abu Sabah’s Jail Term, Orders Dh150M Joint Fine in Money-Laundering Case

The Dubai Court of Appeal has upheld a four-year jail sentence for Indian businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni, popularly known as “Abu Sabah,” while significantly increasing the financial penalties imposed on him and his co-defendants in one of the UAE’s biggest money-laundering prosecutions.

 

Under the revised ruling, Abu Sabah and 32 other defendants must jointly pay Dh150 million, in addition to a Dh500,000 fine. The court also ordered the confiscation of illicit assets and confirmed that Abu Sabah will be deported upon completing his sentence.

 

Abu Sabah, who owns a property management company with branches in the UAE, US, and India, was initially convicted by the criminal court of laundering illicit funds through an organised network that utilised shell companies and suspicious cross-border transfers. He was originally sentenced to five years in prison, fined Dh500,000, and ordered to forfeit Dh150 million.

 

On appeal, judges reduced his prison term from five to four years but maintained the asset seizures and made the Dh150 million financial penalty a joint liability shared by all defendants.

 

In total, 33 people were convicted, some tried in absentia. Eleven received five-year prison terms and Dh500,000 fines each, 10 were given one-year jail terms and fined Dh200,000 apiece, while three companies were fined Dh5 million each. Authorities also ordered the confiscation of funds, electronic devices, and mobile phones linked to the offences.

 

The case began following a tip-off to Dubai Police and was referred to prosecutors in December 2024. Hearings commenced in January, ultimately uncovering what investigators described as a sophisticated international money-laundering network.

 

Abu Sabah is well known in Dubai for his extravagant lifestyle and rose to prominence in 2016 when he paid Dh33 million at an auction for a highly coveted licence plate bearing the number “5.”

 

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