Counterfeit Money Trial Opens For ‎Abdillahi Yusuf’s Son-In-Law In Dubai

Dubai, UAE, May 6, 2006 – Saeed Abdi Firin, the son-in-law of Somalia’s warlord president Abdillahi Yusuf, appeared before a Dubai court last Tuesday following charges that he imported counterfeit Somalia Shilling bank notes through Dubai airport.

Mr. Saeed who holds a Canadian passport is accused of bringing 180 billion Shillings in counterfeit currency into Dubai on last January.

According to prosecutors, the banknotes were printed in the 1000 shilling denominations by a Singaporean firm and then flown to Dubai enrout to Bosasso, a port town controlled by Abdillahi Yusuf’s clan militia.

Mr. Saeed denied that the money was fake. He said through his lawyers that there was nothing illegal about the banknotes since they were ordered by the government of Somalia (headed by Abdillahi Yusuf).

However a lab test conducted in Dubai by the investigators revealed that it was counterfeit.

In October 2005, Abdillahi Yusuf and his premier Ali Mohamed Geedi co-signed a letter authorizing Mr. Saeed Abdi Firin to make contacts with an Indonesian company called Pura Barutama in connection with the printing of five hundred billion Somalia Shillings.

Although Saeed’s lawyers said that Abdillahi Yusuf’s Foreign minister would come to Dubai to testify to the claim that the seized money was legal, however Somalia’s government officials have so far remained reluctant to give any comments on the matter.

Meanwhile Mr. Saeed was released on bail until the court resumes its hearings on the case on 10 th of May.