Woman 'waived her stake in business'

Dubai: A lawyer on Monday testified that a businesswoman waived her family's 49 per cent stake in a business partnership with an ex-government minister, in his office in 2005.

The lawyer, M.R., who appeared as a defence witness before the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour, testified that he witnessed the reconcilement and waiver signature between the 36-year-old businesswoman, M.J., and 51-year-old ex-minister, K.F., who partnered and sponsored her late brother, H.J., in a business group.

K.F. (who wasn't a minister at the time) earlier pleaded not guilty against fraudulently appropriating M.J.'s Dh1.82 million property.

"I, as K.F.'s lawyer in 2005, witnessed the reconcilement between the suspect and M.J. who signed the waiver in the presence of an escorting lawyer," claimed M.R.

The Public Prosecution charged K.F., his 26-year-old son, M.F., a 44-year-old general manager, S.A., and a 48-year-old Indian financial manager, P.N., with defrauding and luring M.J. to sign the waiver.

"K.F. identified M.J. as the successors' representative of H.J. who was his partner in an information technology company which ran domestic and international operations... they met in a friendly atmosphere in my office and amongst other attendees including S.A. Their meeting aimed to finish the business relation between K.F. and H.J.'s successors," stated M.R.

Foreign projects

He also confirmed that M.J. waived her brother's stake in the company's domestic projects and in return K.F. waived for her the foreign projects. M.R. testified before Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif that the reconcilement also discussed some foreign projects in Sudan and Greece.

"The two parties came to my office in the morning... I left them for a family commitment and returned after three hours. They agreed upon a final reconcilement paper, which specified every party's commitment towards the other.

"I wrote down on the paper a sixth commandment, which they both approved before M.J. asked to have the paper authenticated at a notary public," stated M.R. who was questioned during the hearing by the Judge, the Public Prosecution representative and M.J.'s legal representatives in civil rights.

A second defense witness, the company's financial manager, M.L., (who was appointed in 2006) testified that the Dh1.82 million-worth property wasn't part of the company's assets and it used to appear in the budget as a financial commitment until 2003.

Two prosecution witnesses will testify in court on December 15.