The owner of a private company in the UAE has been arrested for taking money from job-seekers training under the Nafis programme. Photo: UAE Public Prosecution
The owner of a private company in the UAE has been arrested for taking money from job-seekers training under the Nafis programme. Photo: UAE Public Prosecution
The owner of a private company in the UAE has been arrested for taking money from job-seekers training under the Nafis programme. Photo: UAE Public Prosecution
The owner of a private company in the UAE has been arrested for taking money from job-seekers training under the Nafis programme. Photo: UAE Public Prosecution

Business owner 'threatened Emirati trainees over job scheme'


Ali Al Shouk
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The owner of a company has been arrested for threatening to fail hundreds of young Emiratis being trained under the Nafis job programme.

The businessman demanded money from young jobseekers and threatened them with low grades in their training if they did not comply.

He claimed the money was for charity purpose, the prosecutors said in a statement on Tuesday.

Authorities did not reveal the man's identity and his company's name, but said the firm was registered under the Nafis programme to train Emirati jobseekers in e-commerce and stock trading.

Prosecutors said 296 UAE nationals on the training scheme were victims.

It was not made clear how much money he used to take from each candidate and if one or all trainees had complained to the authorities.

Emiratis who successfully complete the training programme are placed in private sector jobs. Those who are not able to complete, have to undertake the training again.

The man exploited this clause and obtained money from trainees fraudulently.

“He threatened to fail them in the training if they didn’t give him the money,” the prosecutors said on Twitter.

“He wasn’t training them properly and they complained against him that he took money from them illegally. He flouted Nafis programme regulations.”

The Nafis employment programme was set up to support the government's push to ensure citizens make up 10 per cent of the private sector by 2026, including 2 per cent by January 1.

Financial incentives have been introduced to help attain these goals over the five-year project.

Monthly salary top-ups from the government include Dh7,000 for holders of a bachelor’s degree, Dh6,000 for diploma holders, and Dh5,000 for those who completed high school or less.

For Emiratis undergoing training for highly skilled jobs, there is a Dh8,000 per month salary top-up for one year only.

The UAE authorities urged Emiratis working in the private sector to report anyone flouting the rules to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

Earlier, the ministry warned strict action against employers shirking their responsibilities.

Companies face Dh100,000 fines for forging hiring documents to wrongly fill the job quota for Emiratis working in the private sector.

The January 1, 2023, deadline set a target for companies with more than 50 employees to ensure 2 per cent of their staff are Emiratis. Any employer that fails to reach the target must pay Dh6,000 a month for every position short of the quota.

The policy applies to domestic companies registered with the ministry and does not apply to free-zone businesses.

Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community

• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style

“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.

Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term. 

From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”

• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International

"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed.  Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."

• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."

• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com

"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.

His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.

Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."

• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher

"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen.  He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”

• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."

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The biog

Name: Sarah Al Senaani

Age: 35

Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2

Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism

Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding

Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier

Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish

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Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

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Updated: January 26, 2023, 5:40 AM