The names sound official—Capital Tap Holding, Creative Python, Horizon Advanced Solutions—but behind the corporate masks, there’s no business, no licence, and no real-world footprint in the UAE.
Seven companies recently sanctioned by the United States for alleged links to Sudan have turned out to be little more than ghosts, at least as far as the United Arab Emirates is concerned. The Ministry of Justice announced that none of the named entities—Capital Tap Holding LLC, Capital Tap Management Consultancies LLC, Capital Tap General Trading LLC, Creative Python LLC, Al Zumoroud and Al Yaqoot Gold & Jewellers LLC, Al Jil Al Qadem General Trading LLC, and Horizon Advanced Solutions General Trading LLC—hold valid business licences or operate within the country.
That confirmation came on the heels of a U.S. move on January 7, 2025, blacklisting the companies under its Sudan sanctions regime. The UAE responded by opening an investigation of its own, requesting further information from Washington and probing the local presence—or lack thereof—of the listed firms.
So far, the results point to vapor: no paperwork, no trade activity, no legitimate presence. Authorities in the UAE are still watching for any signs of suspicious activity tied to these names, but officially, they don’t exist in the system.
What looked like a regional business web tied to global sanctions may, in fact, be a hollow shell—one that never got past the façade.
