The Dubai-based investor in a Spanish football club has denied any involvement in an alleged scam that led to seven arrests in Spain yesterday.
The Mossos d'Esquadra police in Catalonia said Getafe FC was the victim of a scam where "investors" posed as Arab sheikhs and preyed on financially strapped companies. As many as 70 cases have been reported.
Police arrested six Spaniards and one Dominican, two of whom were charged with fraud.
Police said Getafe was a target and two cheques paid to buy the club failed to clear. The buyer of the club, Royal Emirates Group, said it knew nothing about a scam.
Speaking from Dubai, Kaiser Rafiq, the managing director and partner of Royal Emirates Group, said police had not contacted him.
"No cheques bounced," Mr Rafiq said. "It is absolutely the wrong statement if it was given by the police. I can say very clearly this is not true."
Royal Emirates Group held a lavish press conference at the Burj Al Arab in April last year with the president of Getafe FC, Angel Torres, to announce the purchase of the club. The price was to be between €70 million (Dh320.6m) and €90m.
Mr Rafiq said he had spoken with Mr Torres yesterday.
"He is himself shocked as to what's going on and we are trying to prepare a joint press release. We don't know who they [the arrested men] are," he said.
"They [police] are not asking me or Torres who could have done something. They are not in contact with Torres or me, and we are trying to contact them and asking for an official statement from the police.
"We only heard through the media. At this point, we are trying to get to the bottom of it."
Police allege a Brazilian waiter was paid to act as a sheikh, dressed in a kandura.
A spokeswoman at Mossos d'Esquadra said yesterday morning that Getafe FC was contacted, but told the police the club did not want to take part in an investigation.
Mr Rafiq said he contacted the Spanish Embassy in the UAE and expected a detailed response on Thursday.
eharnan@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Soldier F
“I was in complete disgust at the fact that only one person was to be charged for Bloody Sunday.
“Somebody later said to me, 'you just watch - they'll drop the charge against him'. And sure enough, the charges against Soldier F would go on to be dropped.
“It's pretty hard to think that 50 years on, the State is still covering up for what happened on Bloody Sunday.”
Jimmy Duddy, nephew of John Johnson
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
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.
WISH
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The specs
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MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
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The specs
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
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Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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De Bruyne (70')
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