Dubai: A Sharjah court on Tuesday reserved the judgement in cheque bounce case against Arif Naqvi, founder of the beleaguered private equity firm Abraaj, to August 26.
This is second such case against Naqvi to be heard in a court in the UAE.
The case relates to a cheque worth $217 million (Dh798m) issued by Naqvi to Sharjah-based Crescent Group founder Hamid Jafar.
Out of court settlement
The new case comes after a similar case relating to a cheque bounce of $300 million was settled out of court on July 15.
Last month, the public prosecutor’s office in Sharjah had issued an arrest warrant against Naqvi and the case was heard by a Sharjah court before it was dismissed following an "agreement" reached by both parties to settle it out of court.
While Naqvi is out of the country, he is represented by Dr Habib Al Mulla, executive chairman at Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla.
Hamid Jafar is represented by Essam Al Tamimi, Senior Partner at Al Tamimi & Co.
The latest case comes following disputes on the terms of settlement agreed by both parties.
Faced with liquidity crunch and court cases from investors and lenders, Abraaj, once the Middle East and North Africa region’s largest private equity company, is in the process of liquidating its fund management business.
The group is also in the process of selling some of its assets.
While Abraaj has an estimated debt burden of close to $1 billion, UAE based companies have disclosed an estimated exposure of S2 billion in terms of loans to Abraaj and investments in Abraaj managed funds.
