US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI552

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Identifier:	03ABUDHABI552
Wikileaks:	View 03ABUDHABI552 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Abu Dhabi
Created:	2003-02-02 13:33:00
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Tags:	ECON EFIN PGOV TC
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB, NEA/ARP AND NEA/RA 
DOJ FOR T. GREENBERG 
COMMERCE PASS TO C. LOUSTAUNAU 
TREASURY PASS FEDERAL RESERVE 
NSC FOR J. MYERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2013 
TAGS: ECON, EFIN, PGOV, TC 
SUBJECT: THE MONEY PIT: FISCAL IRREGULARITIES IN THE UAE 
 
1.  (U) Classified by Charge D'Affaires Tom Williams for reasons 1.5 
(b) and (d). 
 
2.  (U) The UAE federal government's top financial control body -- the 
Abu Dhabi 
Audit Department -- announced publicly on February 1 that the federal 
coffers had 
received only USD $107,000 of the USD $9 million in fees expected to be 
collected by 
the federal ministries and other official departments in 2002.  The 
Audit Department 
noted that the Interior and Economy Ministries, in particular, failed 
to collect and 
transfer significant revenues from fees of government services 
rendered. 
 
3.  (U) The Audit Department cited the Ministry of Economy for failing 
to collect 
fines from foreign companies that delayed the registration or renewal 
of their 
commercial licenses in violation of federal law.  The Ministry of 
Interior also did 
not collect fines paid for traffic violations from the individual 
Traffic and Civil 
Defense Departments in the northern emirates.  For its part, the 
Ministry of Health 
increased its fee schedule for services at some health centers in 
mid-2002, but did 
not collect the amended fees from patients for the latter half of the 
year. 
 
4.  (U) In contrast, the Audit Department noted that some departments 
of 
Naturalization and Residency did collect the appropriate fees in 2002, 
but 
"accidentally" transferred the funds to local governments instead of 
the federal 
government. 
 
5.  (C) Comment: Although an Audit Department official intimated that 
theft and 
embezzlement were suspected in some of the cases in the northern 
emirates (he noted 
that these cases had been referred to the Attorney-General) the fiscal 
irregularities 
probably owe more to the confederation's institutional inability to 
systematically 
collect and transfer revenue to the feds, rather than malfeasance.  It 
is unusual for 
the government to publicize such derogatory information; we can only 
surmise that Abu 
Dhabi, which foots the bill for the increasingly large federal budget, 
would like to 
see federal institutions do a better job -- however small and symbolic 
-- of helping 
pay their way.  End comment. 
 
 
Williams