Jail for Dubai prostitute 'thrown out of window'



DUBAI // A salesman accused of throwing a naked prostitute from a hotel window was today cleared of assault, but jailed for having consensual sex.

The 37-year-old Briton ZA, was sentenced to three months in prison for having consensual sex with the 36-year-old Ukrainian AK, who broke her back in the fall and was left with what medical reports described as a 30 per cent disability.

The salesman was also fined Dh1,000 after he admitted drinking alcohol with the prostitute.

The injured woman was found guilty of prostitution and consuming alcohol and was sentenced to three months in prison. Both will be deported after serving their prison terms.

The two met in a bar in the Panorama Hotel Bur Dubai on October 23 last year after which she accompanied the salesman to his room in a different hotel. However, a dispute broke out after which she ran to a bedroom and locked herself in before opening the window and screaming at passersby to help. She also called a taxi driver she knew to come to rescue her.

She claimed that minutes after making the call the salesman burst into the room and threw her out of the window. She landed on a car but was able to climb down and take herself into the hotel's reception before collapsing. Police arrived and took her to Rashid Hospital.

The hotel's receptionist DA, from India, said he believed the pair were a couple when they entered the hotel. "Shortly after [AK] returned to the reception from the main door naked, crying and in pain," said the receptionist.

The prostitute told him "a crazy man" threw her out of the window, so he went up to the room to check. He found an empty bottle of Chivas whisky and an open window, but the salesman was no longer there.

He said he saw the salesman outside the hotel, trying to run away but he was stopped by police. He said that the salesman's clothes were still in the room and neatly arranged on the bedroom's dresser.

A British investor, ME, told the court he was with the salesman at the bar when the prostitute offered them her services for Dh500.

salamir@thenational.ae

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.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Five healthy carbs and how to eat them

Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat  

Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar

Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices

Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants

Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique