UAE | Crime
Ex-minister threatened me - businesswoman
A businesswoman has claimed that the ex-minister, being prosecuted for fraudulently appropriating her Dh1.82 million property, threatened to throw her in the water and that he didn't own 51 per cent of her late brother's business.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:11 November 11, 2008
Dubai: A businesswoman has claimed that the ex-minister, being prosecuted for fraudulently appropriating her Dh1.82 million property, threatened to throw her in the water and that he didn't own 51 per cent of her late brother's business.
"I was threatened and told that I would be facing jail and that he is the son of this country and he has the final say... I received threats by different means and in various ways. Upon his directives, the security guards prevented me from entering my late brother's, H.J., company which the Emirati suspect, K.F., sponsored," the Lebanese businesswoman, M.J., testified before Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad of the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour.
Over a two-and-a-half-hour-long hearing, the woman said she inherited the property from her late brother, who was K.F.'s previous business partner, and in 2005 she was reportedly lured to waive the family's 49 per cent stake in the business followed by a reconcilement.
She claimed that she reached a point of no return and had no other choice but to sign the waiver. "I waived the 49 per cent stake and in return the suspect waived the company's foreign projects... he was seeking to dominate the company. Meanwhile I sought to save the company's investments abroad and a number of international projects which were signed with foreign governments. I also needed to keep the business running and to preserve the financial commitments and salaries' payments. The suspect made sure to keep me away from asking about the company's assets and capital," M.J. testified.
In an earlier hearing the 51-year-old ex-minister denied his charges and said: "It didn't happen."
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 court earlier.
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. S.A. was the company's general manager and P.N. was financial manager. They were charged with deceiving 36-year-old M.J. and alluring her (as a successor) to waive her brother's stake and partnership in the company.
Court reconvenes on November 24 to hear witnesses of denial.
In 2005 M.J. was reportedly lured to waive the family's 49 per cent stake in the business followed by a reconcilement
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