Court hears testimony in three corruption cases in one day

Dubai: The Dubai Court of First Instance heard testimony in three separate corruption cases - Lagoons, Mizin and Deyaar Development - involving eight suspects in two different chambers concurrently on Sunday.

Defence lawyers in the Lagoons case, involving a project by Sama Dubai, presented three defence witnesses who testified before Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir that the five suspects had not revealed company secrets or accepted bribes, as charged by the Public Prosecution.

The defendants, who are out on bail, earlier pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery and financial irregularities.

In the second case involving a former Deyaar board member charged with accepting a Dh11.75 million bribe, Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout heard from three prosecution witnesses.

Over a four-hour hearing, the witnesses were questioned by lawyer Dr Habib Al Mulla, representing the Emirati defendant, Deyaar's civil rights representative advocate Essam Al Tamimi and Senior Prosecutor Khalid Al Zarouni.

The suspect had earlier denied accepting a bribe to facilitate the sale of a property to his compatriot businessmen.

In the Mizin case, the judge on Sunday reheard testimony from two prosecution witnesses who said they had forgotten to mention important details.

Mizin's former executive manager, an Emirati, and a Lebanese engineer have denied charges of bribery and financial irregularities.

The court reconvenes soon.