Dubai: Three former Nakheel officials and two executives yesterday became the first batch of suspects involved in a graft case to be acquitted of committing financial irregularities and dispersing of public funds.
The Dubai Court of First Instance cleared the three former Nakheel officials and two executives, an Emirati merchant and a Lebanese deputy manager, of a list of charges including bribery, office abuse, dispersing of public funds and others.
Since Dubai announced its massive campaign against corruption in 2008, tens of graft cases surfaced in Dubai courts.
Dozens of executives were jailed and/or fined for abusing public office and committing financial irregularities of different forms. Some executives and former public officials are still standing trial. Yesterday's verdict became the first acquittal for a batch of suspects involved in a graft case.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the court acquitted Nakheel's former senior marketing manager, the 35-year-old Emirati A.J., of charges of seeking Dh250,000 in bribes from his 53-year-old countryman merchant, A.K., and the Lebanese deputy manager, A.M., against winning a trading bid of an exclusive brand of pens from A.K.'s trading company.
Public entity
Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad acquitted A.J. of unlawfully gaining and dispersing public funds by causing on Nakheel [being a public entity] Dh630,000 losses.
"A.M. and A.K. were acquitted of aiding and abetting A.J.," said the judge in courtroom seven.
Nakheel's 39-year-old Indian former executive products' manager, R.S., was acquitted of aiding A.J. and abusing office.
A 27-year-old Pakistani administrator, O.M., was acquitted of using forged documents to seal the deal.
A.J. and R.S. were jailed for three months for forging two Nakheel documents.
The court dropped forgery charges against a 56-year-old Indian woman, J.R., Nakheel's former marketing administrator, due to her death by cancer. All the defendants [except J.R.] had pleaded not guilty.
A.M.'s lawyer Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi submitted in court that his client did not offer any bribe or commit any financial irregularity.
"The evidence against my client was unfounded and baseless. Prosecutors failed to corroborate their accusations against A.M.," argued Al Shamsi. A.K.'s lawyer Mohammad Al Saberi said his client did not commit any crime and he was not involved in the pen deal.
