UAE | Crime
Business ties turn sour for expatriate
An ex-minister has strongly denied that he deceived a Lebanese businesswoman by fraudulently appropriating her Dh1.82 million property.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:52 September 15, 2008
Dubai: An ex-minister has strongly denied that he deceived a Lebanese businesswoman by fraudulently appropriating her Dh1.82 million property.
The woman inherited the property from her late brother, who was the suspect's previous business partner.
"It didn't happen," the 51-year-old ex-minister told Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif when he appeared before the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours on Monday.
The ex-minister, K.F., his 26-year-old son, M.F., a businessman, 44-year-old American general manager, S.A., and 48-year-old Indian financial manager, P.N., denied their deception, fraud and swindling charges when they appeared in the court hearing on Monday.
According to the Public Prosecution's charges, the incident happened between May 2, 2005, and May 27, 2008, during which K.F. sponsored an information technology company (49 per cent of which belonged to the victim's late brother H.J.). S.A. was the company's general manager and P.N. was financial manager.
The Public Prosecution charged the three men with deceiving the 36-year-old businesswoman, M.J., and alluring her (as a successor) to waive her brother's stake and partnership in the company. The three reportedly managed to convince her to sign a waiver and reconcilement concurrently, according to the bill of charges.
Records said K.F. (who wasn't a minister then), S.A. and P.N. claimed to M.J. that her late brother owned 49 per cent of the company and showed her the formal partnership agreement, without showing her the I-owe-you paper, which states K.F. as a sponsor is to be paid an annual amount against his sponsorship.
The Public Prosecution said M.J. was misled when she waived her stake and agreed to reconcile with the suspects who granted her a Japanese agency in return for her brother's share outside the country.
The 51-year-old suspect was solely charged with breach of trust and unlawfully obtaining a property which he shared with H.J. without informing M.J. that it existed. M.F., S.A. and P.N. were also charged with aiding and abetting K.F.
Samir Jaafar and Hussain Al Jaziri, who are defending the ex-minister and his son, and lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan, representing S.A. and P.N., asked the court for a lengthy adjournment.
The Lebanese businesswoman's legal representative in civil rights, Hassan Arab, of Al Tamimi and Co Advocates and Legal Consultants, said in court: "We ask the court to additionally charge the suspects with threatening my client... she was allegedly threatened and pressured at the time of the incident."
The case has been adjourned till October 10.
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