Courts

Blackmail attempt used criminal records, prosecutors say

Three people are accused of trying to shake down man for Dh2,000.

Salam Al Amir
Salam Al Amir

June 26, 2011

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DUBAI // A translator threatened and blackmailed a man after she got his criminal records through a police officer friend, a Dubai court was told this morning.

The 36-year-old Algerian NJ denied before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance getting the records, then forcing the victim to give her Dh2,000. MS, 29, an employee at the Naturalization and Residency Department, denied divulging secrets after prosectors said he provided NJ with details about KM between April 28 to May 20.

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Prosecutors say NJ and HH, a 31-year-old Emirati police officer, conspired to blackmail KM, whose name and nationality were not given. Prosecutors say she told KM she would set herself on fire in her car in front of his house and frame him for her death.

She also was charged with misusing communications by calling and insulting KM.

HH will be separately referred to the Court of Misdemeanours on charges he posed as a senior CID officer.

KM testified that NJ sent him a text message telling him her father was sick and she needed Dh2,000 she had loaned him to return to Algeria.

"I didnt know her, and then she told me to say hello to my wife by name, which surprised me how she knew my wife," he said.

He said she then sent him an image of his criminal record.

The next hearing will be on July 17.

salamir@thenational.ae

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

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