DUBAI // A trial involving the alleged embezzlement of US$501 million (Dh1.82 billion) by seven businessmen is back to square one after a Dubai Criminal Court ordered public prosecutors to reinvestigate their case. The judge ruled yesterday that prosecutors have presented accusations against the defendants in court that were not on the arraignment sheet. New charges cannot be levelled in court as a court has no authority to charge defendants.
The order by the presiding Judge Hamad Abdel Latif of the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance also may result in charges against four senior Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) executives who defence lawyers implicated during the trial. The judge reached his decision after the public prosecution and defence lawyers asked for the case to be reserved for judgement. The defence lawyer Iman Asad requested criminal charges of fraud and perjury be brought against four high-ranking DIB executives: the former DIB chairman MK; the director of commercial financing, MK; the head of operations, MN; and the head of the risk assessment department, FH. He said that if the fraud had taken place it would have not been possible without their consent.
Ms Asad also asked the court to grant the defendants bail. They have been held since the investigation began three years ago. The defendants, the British businessmen CM, RL and AF, as well as the former DIB executives RU and OM, were charged with fraud, embezzlement, bribery and forgery. All have denied the charges. The other two defendants - the Turkish businessman EN and the American ZU - are at large.
Judge Abdel Latif ordered the reinvestigation on the grounds that prosecutors should investigate accusations of "causing intentional harm to the bank" and "the facilitation of embezzlement" they put forth in court. The judge said that, while the case was built on such accusations, prosecutors had failed to include the charges on their arraignment sheet. His ruling order read, "According to Article 213 of the Criminal Procedures Law, the court would be forced to acquit the defendants unless they are charged by the concerned authority".
Judge Abdel Latif also denied the bail request, ordering the defendants to remain in custody. Prosecutors have claimed that EN and CM, who worked for the company that primarily defrauded the bank (CCH), reportedly collaborated with RL to establish a number of fake companies and defraud the bank by submitting bogus documents for projects to be financed. The ex-DIB executives, the financing manager OM, 39, and his deputy RU, 50, were accused of assisting the businessmen by granting them credit facilities.
The three businessmen were also charged with forging the documents they submitted to DIB. OM and RU were charged with abusing their duties in the bank and allegedly accepting Dh3.48m and Dh2.75m in bribes respectively, according to records. The ex-DIB executives are also charged with aiding and abetting the fraudsters. According to the arraignment sheet, American businessman ZU has been charged with defrauding DIB of Dh7.34m by submitting documents to the bank claiming real deals were being conducted with CCH. ZU has additionally been charged with forgery.
British businessman AF has been charged with aiding and abetting EN, CM and RL. Dubai officials launched a wide-ranging anti-corruption investigation in 2008 that revealed more than Dh3.7bn had allegedly been stolen or used as bribe money.According to public prosecution records, the DIB case alone accounts for almost half of the amount. @Email:amustafa@thenational.ae
