Dubai : Damas International said yesterday it is doing all it can to recover money taken from the company by its founders, but that the process is taking longer than anticipated.
In a statement on the NasdaqDubai website, the jewellery retailer said "it is taking all reasonable steps to secure and recover the drawings amount owed to the company by the Abdullah brothers", but "given the complexity involved in transferring/selling the assets declared to the company, it is taking more time to affect the recoveries as per the timeline mentioned."
Suspended
Damas shares were suspended from trading earlier yesterday pending a company announcement. They last traded at $0.18.
In March, the founders of Damas were fined and banned from directorships with any company in the Dubai International Financial Centre after the emirate's financial markets watchdog found they had committed a series of "unauthorised transactions".
Dubai's Financial Services Authority (DFSA) fined the company, and its founders and majority shareholders, Tawhid, Tawfiq and Tamjid Abdullah, a total of $3.72 million (Dh13.6 million) and ordered the brothers to repay $99.4 million plus the value of approximately 1.9 million grammes of gold after it found they had withdrawn Damas funds for their own personal use without disclosing it to the board.
Damas was ordered to pay a $700,000 financial penalty, $100,000 of which should be paid within 30 days.
The balance is suspended, but payable upon a failure by Damas to comply with the actions ordered by the DFSA. The Abdullah brothers, meanwhile, were fined $3 million, $300,000 of which is payable within 180 days.
The remainder will be paid if they fail to comply with the DFSA's orders. Damas said the delay in payments does not constitute an event of default.
