Dubai: Prosecutors have added new charges against seven suspects allegedly involved in financial irregularities which caused a Dh1.8 billion loss to the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Gulf News learnt on Sunday.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the seven suspects — three Britons, two Pakistanis, a Turk and an American — with embezzling public funds, deliberately helping others to embezzle public funds, inflicting intentional loss to the government and its interests, and unlawful profiting and forging unofficial documents and using them, prosecution sources told Gulf News.

The source confirmed that the case has been referred for the second time to the Dubai Court of First Instance for a new trial.

In August, the Court of First Instance's Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad referred the DIB case file back to the Public Prosecution for a reinvestigation of the following charges: deliberately causing a loss of $501 million (around Dh1.8 billion) worth of public funds belonging to DIB, and concealing fraudulent operations.

Same accused

Assistant Chief Prosecutor Khalid Al Zarouni [who conducted the investigations in the case] confirmed to Gulf News that a new list of charges had been added to the cases. He said the file was in the hands of Dubai Attorney General's Technical Office and the number of suspects remained the same.

The suspects are 48-year-old C.M., 54-year-old R.L. and 58-year-old A.F. (who are Britons), and a 36-year-old Turk A.I., and an American, Z.U. (who are at large).

The two remaining suspects are ex-DIB Pakistani executives: 39-year old financing manager U.H., and his 50-year-old deputy R.U.

According to the new charges, A.I., C.M., R.L., Z.U. and A.F. are accused of aiding and abetting R.U. and U.H. in embezzling public funds, inflicting intentional loss to the government and its interests, and the forging of unofficial documents and using them.

A.I. and C.M., who worked for one of the DIB's business partners, are accused of collaborating with R.L. (who established a number of companies) and fabricating documents of bogus transactions (with the intention to con the bank), then submitting those documents to DIB to finance their projects.

U.H. and R.U. are charged with assisting them.