From billionaire to behind bars: The rise and fall of Balvinder Singh Sahni

India Today

Balvinder Singh Sahni, aka Abu Sabah, who once dazzled Dubai with black Bugattis, gold-plated lifestyles, and a ₹80 crore number plate, is now convicted.

Transcript

00:00A Rolls-Royce number worth 80 crore rupees, a 100 million dollar mansion and a multi-billion

00:05dirham empire.

00:07Balvinder Singh Sahani, a Dubai-based Indian billionaire, also known as Abu Sabha, is the

00:11man who turned blue, gold and black into a lifestyle brand, and then into a criminal

00:16record.

00:17He's not just your average billionaire, he's the guy who believed No. 9, the colour blue

00:21and the black Bugatti's could ward off the evil eye.

00:24He parked a black Bugatti in the middle of his Palm Jumeirah villa to protect himself

00:28from curses and spent 33 million dirhams, almost 80 crore rupees, on the iconic D5 license

00:35plate, one of the priciest in the Emirates in 2016.

00:38However, his real investment portfolio included a network of shell companies, fake commercial

00:43partnerships and a side hustle in money laundering worth 150 million AED, or about 344 crore rupees.

00:50The Dubai criminal court sentenced him to five years in jail and imposed a fine of 5 lakh

00:54dirhams, which is approximately 11.35 million rupees in May 2025.

00:59He will be deported once he's done serving the jail time.

01:02His eldest son was also named on the charge sheet one of the 32 people convicted.

01:07Authorities seized enough evidence like laptops, forged invoices, shady partnerships and plenty

01:12of creative accounting.

01:14Born in Kuwait in 1972, he built a real estate empire with Raj Sahani Group, serving up luxury

01:20living to the elite.

01:21By 2020, his net worth hit $2 billion, putting him among Dubai's richest.

01:27I don't even know how many cars I have.

01:29My number plates are worth more than my vehicles, he reportedly shared in a 2022 interview.

01:34Balwinder Singh Sahani, Dubai's blue-clad billionaire, king of license plates and now a convicted money

01:40launcherer.

01:41For more details, visit us at www.fema.org.au.

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