The Public Prosecutor refers a network of 13 defendants and 6 companies to the State Security Department in a case of military equipment for the Port Sudan Authority.

The Attorney General of the State, Counselor Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, ordered the referral of 19 defendants, including six companies registered in the state, to the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal (State Security Department), against the backdrop of committing crimes of illicit trade in military equipment, forgery, and money laundering.

The referral decision came after extensive investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution, where facts revealed that the defendants attempted to pass a shipment of ammunition to the Port Sudan Authority through the territory of the United Arab Emirates, in clear violation of the laws and regulations in force in the country.

Investigations showed that the facts in question were linked to deals made at the request of the Armaments Committee of the Port Sudan Authority, headed by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Yasser Al-Atta, and coordinated by Othman Muhammad Al-Zubair Muhammad. The scope of the accusation also included figures to whom roles in direction and coordination were attributed, including Salah Abdullah Muhammad Salih (aka Salah Gosh).

The defendants face charges of illegal trade in military equipment, forgery and use of official documents, and laundering money obtained from these crimes, which constitute a serious violation of the state’s laws and regulations.

Investigations revealed that the defendants carried out their plan through two interconnected deals, which were characterized by advance planning and the use of the facades of commercial and financial entities to hide the illegal nature of the operations.

In the first deal, That was concluded outside the country. It was agreed to supply military equipment, including Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns, and bombs, with a declared value of $13 million, while its actual value did not exceed $10 million. The difference was allocated as illegal commissions that were agreed to be distributed among the defendants in exchange for their roles in arranging the deal and facilitating its procedures, and that the payments were passed through licensed companies and bank accounts within the country under the cover of fictitious commercial transactions.

As for the second deal It was carried out inside the country using more than two million dollars from the proceeds of the first deal, in order to carry out an urgent supply of an additional ammunition deal (Geranov), where the first part of the shipment was entered into the country’s territory by fraudulent means via a private plane, in preparation for its transportation to Port Sudan.

The competent authorities were able to uncover the threads of the operation and track the path of the money and shipments, but the plan was dropped before it was completed, as the accused were arrested and the attempt to pass the equipment to its final destination was thwarted.

Investigations revealed that the plan was not limited to the shipment that was seized, but rather extended to the smuggling of an additional five million Granoff rounds through six other deals prepared by the defendants. Investigations revealed that the thwarting of the first shipment prevented the implementation of these operations.

The investigations also yielded conclusive evidence, which included the seizure and analysis of financial documents and official correspondence, in addition to tracking bank transfers and cash flows related to the transactions. The evidence also included confessions from a number of defendants, as well as documented recordings and conversations between a number of them, which clearly revealed the interconnectedness and complementarity of the roles in implementing the facts in question.

On April 30, 2025, the Public Prosecutor announced that the security services thwarted an attempt to illegally pass weapons and military equipment to the Port Sudan Authority, and arrested members of a cell involved in illegal trafficking in military equipment and money laundering, in an incident that formed the basis for the investigations that led to this referral.

At the conclusion of its statement, the Public Prosecution stressed that the UAE will not tolerate any attempt to exploit its lands, institutions, or financial system in illegal activities, stressing that the state’s sovereignty and security are a red line, and that the provisions of the law will be strictly applied to anyone proven to be involved, or disrupting public order, in a way that preserves the position of the United Arab Emirates as a state based on the rule of law and established institutions.

First: The names of the defendants brought to trial:

1 – Rashid Omar Abdul Qader Ali

2- Muhammad Al-Fath Muhammad Bey

3- Salah Abdullah Muhammad Saleh (aka Salah Gosh)

4- Abdullah Khalaf Allah (aka Ahmed Abdullah)

5- Ahmed Rabie Sayed Ahmed Muhammad

6- Yasser Abdel Rahman Hassan Al-Atta

7- Othman Muhammad Al-Zubair Muhammad

8- Maher Abdel-Jalil Muhammad Abdel-Jalil

9- Khaled Youssef Mukhtar Youssef

10- Ahmed Khalaf Allah Abdullah Ahmed

11 – Mubarak Ali Sheikh Muhammad

12- Othman Bakr Ali Karar

13 – Musab Awad Al-Karim Hassan Muhammad.

Second: Companies brought to trial:

1- Rashid Omar Brokerage Company

2- Portex Trade Limited

3- Wardat Al-Masara Trading Company

4- Sodamina Company

5- Yellow Sand Trading Company

6- Abolara Electronics Trading Company.