Dubai: Four executives lost their final chance to clear their names in a case relating to fraudulent actions that cost Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) Dh1.8 billion after Dubai's highest court rejected their appeals yesterday.

The Dubai Cassation Court rejected the appeals of the four defendants — two British businessmen and two former DIB executives, both Pakistani nationals — and upheld ten-year jail terms for all of them.

Pronouncing the judgment in courtroom 22, Presiding Judge Mohammad Nabeel Riyadh said the four defendants will be jailed ten years each and pay a fine of Dh1.8 billion.

In October, the Dubai Appeal Court upheld ten-year prison sentences against the four defendants. They were fined Dh1.8 billion and ordered to pay DIB Dh1.8 billion.

"The Cassation Court has overturned the appellate judgment concerning the part of repaying the Dh1.8 billion to DIB. A new panel of appellate judges will have to study that part of the case before the Dubai Appeal Court," said Presiding Judge Riyadh.

Upholding verdicts

DIB's lawyer Hassan Arab, of Al Tamimi and Co, had earlier urged the Cassation Court to reject the acquittal of British businessman, A.F., 59, and to treat him like six other defendants.

The appellate court also upheld the verdicts issued against two other accused, an American, Z.U., and a Turk, A.I., both of whom are still at large.

The two fugitives, along with the four executives who were sentenced yesterday, were convicted of defrauding, swindling and embezzling DIB of Dh1.8 billion.

A.F.'s acquittal became final yesterday after the Cassation Court rejected the appeals of advocate Arab and the prosecution to reject his acquittal.

"There is no way on earth that A.F. was not aware that the money which was transferred to his account was embezzled from DIB. That would have been impossible. We ask the court to cancel A.F.'s innocence and add him to the list of convicts. We object to what was mentioned that he didn't know that the money was extracted from a huge fraud and swindling case. The financial reports and prosecution witnesses, to say the least, confirm that A.F. was aware of the embezzlement and swindling. He indulged in the swindling, fraud and embezzlement crime through his project," argued advocate Arab.

Embezzlement

The court jailed DIB's former financing department manager, U.H., 39, his deputy, R.U., 50, and the businessmen, C.M., 49, and R.L. 55, to ten years in jail and fined them Dh1.8 billion, the amount they are accused of embezzling from DIB.

The fugitives [Z.U. and A.I.] were awarded the same punishment.