Dubai: Nakheel, the Dubai World company behind the three Palm Islands projects, confirmed to Gulf News on Friday that one if its senior employees is under investigation on bribery charges.
Nakheel said in a statement last evening that an employee is being questioned by the authorities, but did not provide any details.
For days, rumours of the arrest of a senior executive had been circulating in Dubai financial circles, but the company previously neither confirmed nor denied the speculation.
However, Gulf News has learned that Nakheel's general manager of sales, Walid Al Jaziri, is being questioned by authorities for taking kickbacks. But Nakheel refused to confirm his name.
"Nakheel regularly conducts internal audits as part of its commitment to a transparent corporate governance," a Nakheel company spokesperson said.
"As a result of this internal audit process, the company can confirm that a member of staff is being interviewed by the authorities. It would be inappropriate to comment further on this issue."
The company also denied a report in a London-based magazine that around Dh3 billion had been embezzled from Nakheel.
"In relation to rumours of embezzlement, the company can confirm that no embezzlement has taken place within Nakheel and the figure of Dh3 billion quoted is categorically incorrect," the spokesman said.
However, the company said the allegations of financial irregularities is "in relation to the acceptance of sums paid to an employee by third parties".
When contacted by Gulf News, Nakheel's chief executive officer Chris O'Donnell declined to provide further details, citing an ongoing investigation by Dubai Police.
"It would be inappropriate for me to comment," he said. Nakheel is also remaining tightlipped over the amount of money involved in the bribery investigation, saying the case involves outside parties.
Tamweel: Investors dump stock
Investors worried about an investigation into an alleged financial fraud at real estate financial giant Tamweel started to dump the company's shares on Thursday, when news of the probe began to surface.
Fadi Al Kiswani, trading manager of Al Sharhan Stock Centre, told Gulf News several investors worried about the negative impact of the investigation sold Tamweel shares when police were supposedly questioning two former top executives.
Over the past weeks, Tamweel has issued two separate denials of any investigation. The company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, told officials there that it "has received no formal notification of such an investigation from relevant authorities".
"I think the stock will drop further when the market opens," Al Kiswani said, adding that the new reports of an investigation after Tamweel's earlier denial will affect investor confidence.
