Hacker transfers $500,000 from an American bank to a company in Dubai

An unknown computer hacker has managed to transfer $500,000 (Dh1.8 million) from a bank account in Seattle to a financial services company in Dubai with the intent of investing the money in stock markets.

Court documents revealed that the unknown hacker in the unauthorized transfer gained access to a bank account of an American man in March 2013 and then transferred the amount ($500,000) to the company’s bank account in three installments. Afterwards, an unknown man then went to the bank and claimed he was the American national who owned the account, withdrew some of the profits the money had yield.

Upon discovering the dubious scheme, the American national who owned the account made contact with the financial company in Dubai asking to reclaim the money of which the company refused to do. He made it known to them that he wasn’t the one who approved or sanctioned the transfers, neither did he sign any agreements, nor was he the person who withdrew the cash.

The financial company in Dubai’s decision not to return the money even after acknowledging the receipt which indicated that they received the money, led to the American National’s legal consultant, Hassan Elhais, from Al Rowaad Advocates, to file a civil case against the financial company in attempt to force them to return the money.

Mr. Elhais was able to provide evidence to the civil court in Dubai showing clearly that, his client together with the financial services company in Dubai had no hand in the criminal act. He then proved that his client’s account had experienced a cyber-breach which led to that problem.

That critical revelation in the case compelled the court to assign an auditor on making further investigation into the case which included the source of the money and the various ways of which it was transferred to the financial services company in Dubai.

It was later revealed after the investigation that, the American national indeed was the genuine owner of the bank account and also did not authorize the transfer of $250,000 out of the total $500,000 that was moved.

Further information from the report showed that the other half of the amount, thus another $250,000 was transferred to the company in two installments. An unknown third party involved also used a power of attorney which was allegedly given to him by the American national to withdraw money.

An additional report also stated that, a Cyber crime had occurred and that, the victim is demanding to make a criminal case linked to charges of forgery and impersonation.

When asked if the hacker acted alone or that there were possible hackers involved, Mr. Elhais told the court he could neither confirm nor deny but that more investigations would need to be conducted.

The Dubai based financial services company also presented documents to the court which showed that they made an agreement with the American national including a transfer letter and a withdrawal application for Dh90,000, all bearing his name and signature.

His legal consultant Mr. Elhais once again argued that the documents including the passport and the identification card were everything but the original documents of his client. He proceeded to present original copies of his client’s documents with included his original passport, which clearly was different than that of which the financial company had brought.

All of the submitted documents were then verified and afterward, the Dubai civil court ordered the Dubai based financial services company to repay a sum of $25,000, which was transferred without the authorization of the American national according to court reports.

In addition, the company was also ordered to pay a further 9 percent interest rate on the amount from the date of his legal claim in September 2016.

Nevertheless, the court came to a decision that, the rest of the money was not going to be returned because of lack of evidence to prove that he authorized the transfer of it.

As many laws suggests that, you can fight these cases on the grounds that it is illegal for a person to willfully keep and spend cash in their account that they know was not meant for them. The American national who wasn’t content with the ruling opted to appeal the case but unfortunately, the ruling was sustained.

No criminal case has been filed as of now by the American while the identity of the unknown hacker remains unknown.