Nakheel executives set up, lawyers say

Dubai: A lawyer said before the Dubai Appeals Court on Sunday that a Nakheel executive sought to obtain a bravery medal by fabricating a bribery case against his client.

"The incident was directed by the Nakheel executive [Gulf News will not publish his name, although he was named during a public hearing, in keeping with the media code of ethics], who made every possible effort to complete the deal to obtain the medal of bravery. It was a trap. My client is not guilty," argued Saeed Al Ghailani when he defended his client, 28-year-old Egyptian sales executive K.M., before Presiding Judge Eisa Al Sharif.

Defending the second suspect, a 32-year-old Emirati general sales manager named W.J., in what is called the Nakheel corruption case, advocate Hussain Al Jaziri said: "The crime and the charges have been made up. W.J. is innocent and he didn't commit any financial irregularity. A group of employees from Nakheel made up this case against W.J. Law enforcement procedures that were carried out in this case were unlawful because the incident happened without the involvement and/or acknowledgment of any law enforcement officer."

The Dubai Court of First Instance earlier sentenced W.J. and K.M., former Nakheel executives, to three years each in jail and ordered a joint fine of Dh3.081 million. K.M. was granted deportation.

The convicts appealed the primary verdict before the Appeals Court. Following more than 18 months in detention, Presiding Judge Al Sharif approved their bail requests. W.J. and K.M. placed their passports, an Emirati sponsor's passport plus Dh1 million in bail before their release.

In their defence, advocates Al Jaziri and Al Ghailani defended that Nakheel is a private sector company and not public.

The advocates contended that the arraignment sheet is void and the Public Prosecution based its charges on incomplete evidence, and that the prosecutors failed to specify the crime date.

The law enforcement procedures were unlawfully carried out against the defendants, argued Al Jaziri and Al Ghailani.

W.J. and K.M. pleaded not guilty to requesting Dh5.14 million in bribe from a company to finalise the process of selling a certain property, as charged by the Public Prosecution.

The Appeals Court verdict will be heard on November 15.