Danish citizen successfully removed from Interpol.
A Danish citizen who was scammed out of $30,000 in the UAE and subjected to an abusive Red Notice as part of an extortion scheme, has had his name successfully removed from the Interpol database by Radha Stirling and Detained in Dubai.
“This was a particularly outrageous case,” Stirling said, “Our client hired an attorney in the UAE to help collect debts he was owed; but instead of carrying out the work for which he had been paid $30,000, the attorney forged a document claiming my client owed him AED 13 million. He filed a police case, and proceeded to use the Power of Attorney granted to him by my client to have an associate plead guilty to fraud on my client’s behalf – all after he had already left the UAE.”
Stirling, who has long been the leading critic of Interpol abuse, and is the founder of Interpol & Extradition Reform (IPEX), explained that the Danish national found himself subjected to a Red Notice by the international policing organisation at the behest of the UAE, “With the fraudulent confession made by this serial scamster in my client’s name, the court convicted him, and requested an Interpol Red Notice against him to seek his extradition. In Summer of last year, he was pulled over in a routine traffic stop by police in Denmark, only to discover that he was listed as an international fugitive by the UAE. He was forced to undergo extradition proceedings, which finally ended with Danish authorities dismissing the Red Notice; yet his Interpol listing remained, making international travel impossible.”
The Dane then contacted Detained in Dubai, which boasts a 100% success rate in the removal of wrongful Interpol listings. “We have well over a decade of experience combatting Interpol abuse, particularly that committed by the Gulf States,” Stirling said, “Countries like the UAE and Qatar are among the world’s top abusers of the data collection system; they habitually weaponise Red Notices as devices to extort money, harass, intimidate and threaten foreigners, and to affect a de facto expansion of their own jurisdiction. Our client in this case was fortunate to have discovered the Red Notice while in his home country; if he had been detained over the listing in any number of other jurisdictions, he would have likely been extradited and would be in an Emirati prison today for a crime he didn’t commit.”
Stirling cautions tourists, expats, and investors who travel to the Gulf to be aware of the dangers, “These are not countries with independent judiciaries, and due process is abysmally below global norms. As we saw in this case, it is disturbingly easy to falsify documents, level baseless allegations, and get convictions without evidence. Even mundane financial disputes can lead to a criminal case and an Interpol listing, sometimes without the individual ever knowing about it. The UAE and all of the Gulf States allow convictions in absentia, and accusations can be made against a person even when they are not in the country. This is why we strongly advise anyone visiting the UAE, or even anyone who ever has visited the UAE, to run a police check on their name and an Interpol database search to ensure that no cases exist without their knowledge. Unfortunately, the Interpol website does not provide complete listings, and this is just another aspect of that organisation’s lack of transparency which we have been lobbying to change.
“A case like that of our recent client should never have been accepted by Interpol, but once they list a name, it is tremendously difficult to get it removed. Having a Red Notice severely restricts a person’s freedom of movement, and stigmatises them as if they are fugitives from justice. There is reputational damage, and often there can be devastating financial consequences resulting from an Interpol listing; yet Interpol continues to allow persistent abusers like the UAE to request Notices without cause, and a person can be listed in a matter of minutes, while disputing a listing can take months. We are just glad that our experience and expertise were able to resolve this matter; it is one of the best parts of our job when we get to celebrate with a client the successful resolution to their issues and congratulate them for their newfound freedom from an unjust Interpol listing.”
