Directors plead not guilty to abusing Nakheel contact

Dubai: A defence lawyer has argued that a German investor acted maliciously in accusing his clients of abusing their connection with a Nakheel employee.

Dr Habib Al Mulla, the lawyer representing Emirati company directors M.F. and A.T., both 29, told the Dubai Misdemeanour Court that the investor filed his case against them out of malice because they had lodged a bounced cheque case against him.

Prosecutors had charged M.F., the director of a realty investment company, and A.T., an administrative director, of abusing their connection with a Nakheel employee in order to get the German a discount, and allowing him to defer payments, in return for a bribe of Dh21.8 million in cash and cheques.

The two directors pleaded not guilty and firmly denied their charges when they appeared in court.

"The German, identified as ‘A', bought six plots of land from Nakheel worth Dh2.4 billion in total. He agreed with my clients to pay them a commission after completing the deal. The commission cheques later bounced when my clients went to cash them at the bank. They complained to the police," the lawyer told the court.

A. was charged with issuing bounced cheques, convicted and jailed.

"He lodged this case malevolently and to avoid paying my clients their financial entitlements," argued Dr Al Mulla in courtroom five.

According to the arraignment sheet, prosecutors said the defendants received a bribe of Dh14.3 million in cash and Dh7.5 million in cheques.

Al Mulla said M.F. runs a real-estate investment company and is a licensed realty broker. He has the right to sell land to individual investors and companies for a commission.

"‘A' agreed for my clients to represent him in buying two [parcels of] land in [the] Port Rashid project," Dr Al Mulla said.

"The investor also requested my clients to help him ... [have the instalments deferred] to three instead of one. M.F. told him that the land was available for sale from Nakheel and that he could [complete the purchase] on his own ... but the German insisted that they go with him to Nakheel, claiming [that because] he is a non-resident he could not pursue the deal alone. He signed authorisation letters and then they all went to Nakheel ... ‘A' [successfully concluded the deal] and he handed the first batch of postdated cheques to Nakheel's sales representative. He also handed my clients their commission," Dr Al Mulla told the court.

"When the commission cheques bounced, my clients complained against ‘A'. His case is baseless, unfounded and was filed out of malice. I ask the court to pronounce [my clients] innocent because they didn't have any criminal intention and they didn't commit any wrongdoing," Dr Al Mulla said. He also asked the court to dismiss the civil compensation claim filed against his clients.