Mohammed Naveed has engaged the services of a lawyer who had previous experience in the Ajay Jadeja case, in the match-fixing scandal that engulfed cricket at the turn of the century, as he prepares his defence against corruption charges.
Naveed, the former UAE captain, was charged last October with two counts of breaching cricket’s anti-corruption code.
Along with fellow national team players Shaiman Anwar and Qadeer Ahmed, he was suspended from playing indefinitely.
The ICC are due to submit their case on April 9. The charges against Naveed relate to “contriving, or being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly, the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of matches” at last year’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
He is also charged with “failing to disclose to the [ICC anti-corruption unit] full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in conduct” at that tournament which would “amount to corrupt conduct”.
The fast bowler also faces similar charges for breaching the Emirates Cricket Board’s code of conduct, in relation to the Abu Dhabi T10 which followed the T20 World Cup Qualifier. The ICC were also the designated anti-corruption officials for the T10 league.
Immediately after being charged, Naveed said he had made a mistake in not reporting an approach made to him.
"It is my mistake and I feel guilty," Naveed told The National last October.
“My family is let down, my friends are let down. Everybody is let down. This was my mistake.”
Now he has hired the services of Ibrahim Al Banna Advocates & Legal Consultants in Dubai.
The law firm includes Santanu Ghosh, a lawyer who worked on the case of Jadeja, the former India batsman.
As part of the corruption crisis in which Mohammed Azharuddin was given a lifetime ban, Jadeja was suspended from the sport for five years for his part in match-fixing.
Jadeja subsequently had that sanction quashed, at the Delhi High Court in 2003.
“That case was different to this one,” said Ghosh. “The law which they are now following is that if someone approaches a cricket player, even if the cricket player does not do anything, they still have to inform ICC about what has happened.
“If they don’t tell them that, then it is a punishable offence.
"The question is whether they have informed or not, and that itself can put in place a minimum ban of six months.”
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UAE cricket in crisis: timeline of a chaotic few weeks
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By the time the tribunal takes place, it will have been almost exactly six months since Naveed was suspended.
It is understood he has turned down an agreed sanction of five years. He could face between eight to 10 years if found guilty.
By contrast to his former captain, Qadeer says he will prepare his own defence against the charges against him, as he cannot afford a lawyer.
The fast bowler was charged with six breaches of the ICC code. They related to failing to disclose approaches related to series for the UAE in Zimbabwe and Netherlands last year, as well as obstruction the investigation.
Qadeer returned to Pakistan immediately after being charged.
Last week he opened a shop selling milk in his home city of Rawalpindi, as he plans for a life away from cricket.
“I didn’t do anything corrupt in my career, but I did make mistakes by not informing the ICC about being approached,” Qadeer said.
“But about the other charges, like not cooperating with ICC – that I would deny.
"I would like to help them, even after the decision [to charge him].
“My life is now that I am working hard to meet the expenses of my family.
"If I ever did anything wrong, then for sure I would have a lot of money to live my life with ease.”
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
