Dubai: Deyaar's American former CEO has become the longest-ever provisional detainee, having completed nearly 44 months in detention since his arrest over alleged financial irregularities in March 2008.
The 46-year-old Z.S., who remains in temporary custody, has been referred to the Dubai Court of First Instance on November 15 for committing various financial irregularities involving Dh237 million.
"Z.S.'s provisional detention has probably become the longest provisional detention and is unprecedented in Dubai. The efficiency of a judicial system is manifested by a swift litigation and granting a fair trial to a suspect. When a provisional detainee is sentenced [convicted or acquitted], all litigating parties should respect a court's decision.
"Next March, Z.S. would have completed four years in provisional detention since he was detained in 2008," Z.S.'s lawyer Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi told Gulf News on Wednesday.
Litany of charges
The issue surfaced after Chief Prosecutor Khaled Al Zarouni referred the high-profile Deyaar corruption case, which came to light in 2008 involving Z.S. and eight executives, to the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Prosecutors have charged Deyaar's former CEO with embezzling and swindling public funds, intentionally inflicting loss of public funds — as Deyaar is 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 arraignment sheet, prosecutors also charged Z.S. and eight other executives — four Indians, one Argentine, one from Lebanon, a Palestinian and a Pakistani — of 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.
Court records said the financial irregularities added up to losses of nearly Dh237 million for the company.
The new twist in the case materialised recently when Chief Prosecutor Al Zarouni referred the case to the criminal court after more than three years of being handled by the Misdemeanor Court.
In April, the Misdemeanors Court's Presiding Judge Rifaat Tolba referred the case to the Public Prosecution as the case did not fall under its jurisdiction, it being a crime and not a misdemeanor.
Advocate Al Shamsi earlier contended before the Misdemeanors Court: "We ask the court to refer this case to the Court of First Instance, where my client is being prosecuted in another Deyaar graft case. This is not a misdemeanor and both cases should be clubbed together."
In the new arraignment sheet, prosecutors modified the accusations, added some new charges and referred the case to the criminal court. Z.S. and the eight suspects will stand trial on November 15 before Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout, who is also handling the other graft case involving a former Emirati minister and former chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank's board of directors, M.K., along with Z.S. for defrauding almost Dh56.6 million from Deyaar.
According to the new arraignment sheet, Deyaar incurred a loss of Dh22.1 million because of Z.S. involving a project in Turkey, Dh21.5 million due to a project in Abu Dhabi, Dh3.5 million over a project in Dubai and almost Dh190 million in bribes and unlawful discounts, bonuses and commissions.
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty before the Misdemeanours Court.
At an earlier stage, Z.S. failed to deposit in the court's treasury Dh4 million bail to let him leave the detention centre.
