A proceeds of crime investigator remains unable to leave the UAE after a legal complaint was made against him by a suspect in a British criminal trial.
David Ingram, a senior partner with the global accountancy firm Grant Thornton, had his passport taken by the UAE authorities in July, his employer said.
He is yet to be charged with an offence and has not been accused of any crime by the UAE authorities.
Mr Ingram, 55, is a UK court appointed official and is understood to be staying at a hotel in Dubai after having his passport seized during a stopover.
He denies any wrong doing, and is being supported by Grant Thornton and with consular assistance by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
“David Ingram has been detained in the United Arab Emirates as a result of a complaint made there by a defendant in UK criminal proceedings,” said a spokesperson for Grant Thornton UK LLP.
“David has not been charged, nor has he been imprisoned.
“The complaint arises in the context of those UK proceedings in which Mr Ingram acts as the court appointed receiver and as an officer of the court. Mr Ingram vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
“Grant Thornton are supporting David and his family throughout this time and remain in regular and close contact with him.
“Given the current status of the investigation in the UAE and the reporting restrictions in the UK which apply, it is neither appropriate or possible to comment any further at present.”
Mr Ingram is an insolvency specialist and expert in proceeds of crime, fraud and asset recovery, according to his company profile.
In March, he was reprimanded, fined £2,650 (Dh13,000) and ordered to pay costs after he was sanctioned by the UK Insolvency Service for breaching the code of ethics in relation to a bankruptcy case he was working on in 2014.
The accountant was accused of making inappropriate comments about his client, Scot Young, to a reporter for the Daily Mail. Mr Young, 52, was said to be a middle-man for wealthy businessmen and Russian oligarchs.
Young was jailed in 2013 after failing to reveal his finances in a divorce case, and died a year later under mysterious circumstances. He fell to his death from his London apartment.
