UAE | Crime
Five suspects in Tamweel Dh42m corruption case win bail
Five suspects, charged with Dh42 million financial irregularities at Tamweel, will spend Eid Al Fitr with their families after a court granted them bail on Thursday.
- By Bassam Za'za, Senior Reporter
- Published: 22:45 September 17, 2009
Dubai: Five suspects, charged with Dh42 million financial irregularities at Tamweel, will spend Eid Al Fitr with their families after a court granted them bail on Thursday.
Following nearly 15 months in provisional detention, the Dubai Court of First Instance approved the suspects' bail requests after denying them bail on Monday.
To be released, the suspects - two Emirati former executives, 38-year-old A.S., former deputy executive, and 44-year-old A.N., ex-vice-president, a 54-year-old Ukrainian director, R.R., and two Pakistanis, 57-year-old manager, W.G., and 40-year-old merchant, M.Y. - will have to place their passports and a sponsor's passport.
"Each sponsor will be fined Dh2,000 in case any of the sponsored suspects fails to appear in any upcoming hearing without proper excuse," Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad said.
Since Jawad had denied the suspects bail on Monday, advocates Khalifa Al Salman, Dr Habib Al Mulla, Hamdi Al Sheewi, Samir Jaafar, Saeed Al Ghailani and Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi lodged a new bail request shortly after. Yesterday's approval for bail came in a special hearing.
Al Mulla, A.S.'s lawyer, said: "My client's an Emirati and there is no fear of him fleeing the country, especially that the money has been returned. He spent 15 months in provisional detention. There are no more reasons and it has become unnecessary to keep him provisionally detained."
Al Sheewi, who also represents A.S., also stressed that there is no reason for provisional detention.
Al Shamsi, M.Y.'s advocate, said: "My client has no involvement in the case. He has never missed an Umrah in Ramadan and he is lawful. Keeping him in provisional detention has become unnecessary."
Al Ghailani, who's defending R.R., said: "The Dh42 million have been repaid, hence there is no harm or danger to the public if he walks out on bail."
Jaafar and Al Salman, who represent A.N. and W.G. respectively, reiterated what their counterparts said in courtroom four.
When Jawad decided to grant the subjects bail, waves of cheer and joy arose in the courtroom. The suspects shook hands and hugged each other with a sigh of relief as they welcomed the decision. The suspect's relatives were also spotted cheering the judge.
"May God bless you. Ramadan kareem, your honour," a relative said.
Tamweel's former executives denied the charge of abusing their power as public servants and unlawfully pocketing around Dh24 million by selling land owned by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT).
They also rejected the charge of making profits of Dh18 million through the unscrupulous sale of land in Dubai Maritime City.
Prosecutors also charged R.R., W.G. and M.Y. with aiding and abetting the Emiratis with the sale of properties in JLT.
According to the Financial Control Department's report concerning the alleged financial irregularities in Tamweel, A.S. (who owned a private company) used W.G.'s company (a real estate firm) as a cover for booking and selling land and properties in JLT, making an unlawful profit of Dh13.7 million. The money was reportedly shared with A.N.
The report also claims that A.S. followed the same modus operandi for a property transaction in Dubai Maritime City and unlawfully earned Dh16 million, which he shared with A.N.
The broker (W.G.'s company) used R.R. and W.G. to conspire with A.S. to make an illegitimate profit of Dh23 million from a property deal in JLT, which was shared with A.N.
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