Dubai court upholds jail term for Indian businessman in $40 million Bitcoin plot

Balvinder Singh Sahni is to be deported after serving five-year sentence as appeal fails

Balvinder Singh Sahni was at the centre of an international money-laundering scheme. The National

An Indian business tycoon convicted over his role in a Dh150 million ($40.8 million) Bitcoin money-laundering scheme will spend five years in prison after failing in a final bid to overturn the verdict.

Balvinder Singh Sahni, who also goes by the name Abu Sabah and claimed to be a billionaire, was initially sentenced by a Dubai court in May, after being found guilty of a string of financial crimes as founder and chairman of the Raj Sahni Group.

In August, Dubai's Court of Appeal ruled that the 30 people accused in the case, including Sahni, must repay the full Dh150 million that prosecutors say was laundered. On Wednesday, the Court of Cassation – the emirate's highest court – rejected his appeal, a binding decision. He is to be deported after serving his sentence.

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But the court waived the Dh150 million fine, because the amount had been recouped in assets seized during the criminal investigation.

Elaborate plot

Court documents obtained by The National show that a criminal investigation into Sahni's business practices was launched in December 2024. It uncovered a network of illicit financial activity using Bitcoin between October 2018 and January 2019.

The investigation came after Abu Dhabi's State Security Agency was tipped off. It identified 30 people at the heart of the plot.

Records alleged the group laundered money in co-operation with organised crime groups in the UK. About Dh180 million from UK drug traffickers and tax evasion were transferred anonymously using Bitcoin to five digital wallets owned by Sahni.

These funds were then turned into cash by others working for Sahni. The money, in dirhams, was delivered to a rented apartment at a luxury hotel in Dubai.

Sahni took four per cent of the cash as profit and deposited the money in the accounts of three companies he owned. The authorities arrested 20 people, with another 10 suspects still at large. All 30 were found guilty, with sentences varying between one to five years.

The three companies owned by the businessman – the Raj Sahni Group, Sabah Tower RSG and Reeva Realty FZ-LLC – were each fined Dh5 million by the court.

Those convicted in the case were from India, Pakistan, the UK, the Netherlands, Palestine, Iraq and Jordan.

The Dubai property portfolio of Sahni's company includes the 24-storey Burj Sabah apartment complex in Jumeirah Village Circle and the Qasr Sabah’s residential buildings in Dubai Sports City.

RSG also owns commercial properties in Bay Square, Business Bay and the five-star Sabah Dubai Skyline hotel, as well as homes under construction in Sufouh Gardens.

Sahni, a luxury car collector, often posted pictures of his expensive vehicles on social media. In 2016, Sahni bought the single-digit 5 Dubai licence plate for Dh33 million.

He was often seen in Dubai wearing a distinctive royal blue kandura, baseball cap and matching trainers. His Instagram feed is filled with videos flaunting his wealth, shopping in luxury shops and posing with lions and chimpanzees in private zoos.