DUBAI // Two men who raped a woman in a remote warehouse were each sentenced to a year in prison today.
One of the men, a 25-year-old Pakistani labourer, had met the 44-year-old Filipina in Al Muteena at the end of September and invited her to dinner a couple of days later.
After picking her up he drove towards Sheikh Zayed Road, saying he wanted to pick up something from his workplace before they headed to the restaurant. Feeling scared, the woman asked him to drop her off, but he refused. When she tried to get out of the moving vehicle he stopped and threatened her.
He then drove her to a poorly lit part of Jebel Ali Industrial Area and took her to a room in a warehouse with a bed and DVD player. He then started playing a pornographic movie and, said the woman, threatened to kill her if she refused to have sex with him. Fearing for her life, she gave in. She was then forced to have sex with another Pakistani labourer, 22, who was also at the warehouse.
The two men then drove the woman home. She called police, but no DNA evidence was found because the men used contraceptives.
Prosecutors said the men confessed to rape, threatening and kidnap charges during the investigation, but they denied the charges when they appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance last May.
KS, 25, and EK, 22, were found guilty of rape but acquitted from kidnap and threatening charges. They will be deported following their prison terms.
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Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
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Company name: Nomad Homes
Started: 2020
Founders: Helen Chen, Damien Drap, and Dan Piehler
Based: UAE and Europe
Industry: PropTech
Funds raised so far: $44m
Investors: Acrew Capital, 01 Advisors, HighSage Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Partech, Precursor Ventures, Potluck Ventures, Knollwood and several undisclosed hedge funds
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
