Dubai: In yet another surprise involving Deyaar’s former CEO, his case and eight other suspects, charged with committing Dh237 million worth of financial irregularities was referred back to prosecutors for fresh investigations.
The Dubai Court of First Instance referred the case file to the Public Funds Prosecution to look into two dealings concerning Deyaar projects in Turkey and in Abu Dhabi.
According to yesterday’s decision, prosecutors will also have to conduct fresh investigations concerning other incidents of forgery and of illegal profiting worth nearly Dh11 million from a branding company.
Deyaar’s American former CEO, Z.S., had earlier denied charges of embezzling and swindling public funds, intentionally inflicting loss to public funds [Deyaar’s money being it a government entity], offering and accepting bribes, deliberately damaging the country’s interest and revealing Deyaar’s secrets and unlawfully benefiting from that.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors framed charges against Z.S. and the eight executives — four Indians, an Argentinean, a Lebanese, a Palestinian and a Pakistani —such as abuse of public office, defrauding, swindling, embezzling, breach of trust, forgery and using fake documents, divulging Deyaar’s secrets and aiding and abetting a crime.
This is major Deyaar graft case that first surfaced in April 2008 and after which Z.S. was detained. Following more than a year of investigations, the Public Prosecution referred the case to the Dubai Misdemeanor Court in 2009. Then the Misdemeanor Court referred the case to the Dubai Court of First Instance citing jurisdictional purposes.
Following nearly four years of court proceedings, Presiding Judge Mohammad Jamal yesterday referred the case file back to prosecutors for a fresh probe.
Yesterday’s decision is believed to be the second major twist in the case that has brought it back to square one. Meanwhile Z.S., who was released on bail on Thursday, failed to attend his first hearing on Sunday in the newest graft case involving him and seven other suspects.
In the most recent and fifth case against the American-Lebanese former CEO, Z.S. is charged with abusing office and appropriating nearly Dh56 million. The allegedly appropriated amount resulted from a land deal in Texas. He is also accused of inflicting a deliberate loss of Dh56 million to Deyaar and allowing the company that sold the land plot to Deyaar to unlawfully earn $14 million.
The seven other suspects involved in the case are two Americans [who are at large], an Indian and a Lebanese [both at large], an Australian, a Malaysian and a Pakistani.
