Lawyer challenges fraud claims in Nakheel case

Dubai: A lawyer stunned a court yesterday when he said that a plaintiff admitted before an Australian court that he lied to Dubai prosecutors while investigating the Nakheel graft case.

Advocate Salem Al Shaali brought eight file boxes containing nearly 10,000 photocopied documents to the Dubai Court of First Instance to confirm that his 43-year-old Australian client, M.J., is being tried based on a combination of "unfounded, groundless and baseless accusations".

Prosecutors charged M.J., the Nakheel Waterfront project's former executive director, his 40-year-old countryman, M.R., the ex-operations manager, and Waterfront's former legal adviser, 44-year-old Australian A.J. (who is at large), with abusing public office and intentionally damaging Nakheel's interests by siphoning off Dh44.1 million, out of which Dh22.1 million went to M.J.

Prosecution records said the suspects defrauded a Dubai-based property developer and its Australian manager D.B. of Dh44.1 million.

Statements

"The plaintiff D.B. recently testified before a Melbourne court that most of his statements before Dubai prosecutors was ‘not completely correct'. He admitted that he lied and that most of the evidence which he produced against the suspects in this case was ‘wrong'. This is a massive scam. And we would like to produce to the court all the evidence and proof that we have got to counter the unfounded accusations that were meted out against my client. We even have copies of the media coverage that exposed D.B.'s wrong statement against my client M.J. I ask the court to record our argument in the hearing's minutes," said advocate Al Shaali when he addressed Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout.

Presiding Judge Barghout asked the secretary to record Al Shaali's claim about D.B. giving wrong statements to Dubai prosecutors.

Al Shaali asked for a long adjournment while he obtains a copy of D.B.'s statement made before the Australian court and submits it to the Dubai court.

The documents brought to court by Al Shaali included emails, financial reports, Blackberry messages, classified documents, consultative reports and many others.

Acquittal

"All the produced documents will help in acquitting my client," he told courtroom nine.

Meanwhile, advocate Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi, who is defending M.R., told the judge: "I need an adjournment to study what was submitted in court today. From our side, I produce several documents countering what my client, M.R., has been falsely accused of doing. Although my defence is ready, but I won't present it until Al Shaali presents his."

Following nearly 10 months of provisional detention, M.J. and M.R. were released on bail after depositing Dh1 million in the court's treasury.