Dubai: Investors in Al Barakah projects are to be offered two options in an attempt to solve the current issues with the company, the company's legal adviser says.

Rumours among investors were that Imran Khan, chief executive officer of Al Barakah, had left the country after police were tracking him for Dh14 million worth of bounced cheques.

However, Khan's assistant, Abdul Qabeer, said yesterday that Khan is in the country but in hiding.

"It will take time for him to come back ... He is hiding and won't come back to the office until the six complaints against him have been finished," Qabeer told Gulf News.

Investors are being offered the chance to exchange their MOUs against equity, including all company assets and the assets of Khan himself, according to Omar Bissar, legal adviser to Al Barakah.

The equity will then be divided into shares among investors.

The second option is to pool the investors into small groups and each group be given a portion of the plots to be shared out.

Khan will be back in the office by Saturday if investors drop their cases against him, Bissar added.

Dropping cases

"Some investors have promised to drop their cases against Khan and are going to persuade some of the others to do the same because the civil court has already banned him from travel," Bissar said.

Khan had persuaded over 100 investors to make down payments on units in Al Barakah properties in Dubai and also Ajman.

In MOUs, he promised guaranteed buybacks and issued investors with post-dated cheques, saying investors would receive a 50 per cent profit after six months.

Refunds

Around Dh14 million worth of cheques are said to have bounced, according to police.

Qabeer also said that refunds cannot be given now as there is no money available.

Al Barakah currently has a portfolio of around Dh3 to Dh5 billion and had previous aims to be one of the region's top 10 developers in the next few years, Khan said in an earlier interview with Gulf News.

"The company was established to bring new values to the real estate industry," Khan said at the time.