The family of an engineer who has been detained without explanation in Iraq has made an emotional plea for his release.
Robert Pether, 46, has been held in custody for 60 days.
The Australian was arrested during what he thought was a routine business meeting with his employer's client, the Central Bank of Iraq.
His wife and son urged authorities in Baghdad to release Mr Pether after he was denied bail three times despite not being charged with any offence.
I have gone countless nights sitting in my room feeling empty, wondering if I'll ever see him again
Mr Pether and an Egyptian colleague, Khalid Zaghlol, were both arrested without explanation upon arrival at the meeting on April 7, following a contractual dispute with Iraq's Central Bank.
Their employer, Dubai-based company CME Consulting, was awarded a deal in 2015 by the bank to offer engineering consulting services for building a new headquarters in Baghdad.
The trauma of Mr Pether's detention has led to his son, 15, releasing a video on social media pleading for help.
“I have gone countless nights sitting in my room feeling empty, wondering if I’ll ever see him again,” Oscar Pether said in the video.
“The situation has made my depression worse to the point I was forced into therapy.
“I’m begging for his immediate unconditional release. Please bring my father home to us.”
Oscar, 15, said his father's arrest was a breach of his human rights.
Mr Pether’s wife Desree said there had been no update from authorities in Iraq as to when her husband would finally be released.
“His bail has been denied three times at this stage without any reason being given as to why,” said Ms Pether.
She was only able to speak to her husband over the phone once, since his arrest.
“It was a short five-minute conversation and there has been nothing else since,” she said.
Ms Pether has been kept aware of her husband’s status through communications with the Egyptian and Australian embassies.
She said CME Consulting has provided him with a lawyer but there was still no indication he would be released anytime soon.
“We are just literally clutching at straws at this stage,” she said.
Ms Pether added her husband is currently being kept in a room with other prisoners, which has led to concerns about her husband's health.
“He’s in a room with 22 others but there are only 22 beds,” she said.
“Someone has to sleep on the floor. There is simply no justification for him to be treated like this.”
Ms Pether said she was also seeking help from the Irish government as she is an Irish citizen, and is currently residing there with her children.
The National contacted the Australian and Irish governments for comment, as well as Mr Pether's lawyer in Iraq.
Contractual dispute
The dispute involves a $33 million contract awarded to CME Consulting in 2015.
The company teamed up with another for the project, as requested by the central bank.
Work was suspended a year later owing to a lack of funds caused by plummeting oil prices in the international market and Iraq’s war with ISIS.
Iraq resumed work on the project in 2018, by which stage the partner withdrew from the contract but CME Consulting continued the work without notifying the central bank.
The company worked for 39 of the 48 months stipulated in its contract. It was paid for 32 months, before payment was withheld in September.
The dispute started this year when the bank asked CME to extend the contract for three months to make up for work suspended during the coronavirus lockdown last year.
The bank said it would not pay for the extension. CME refused, saying the suspension was not its decision and that its employees were in Baghdad.
The bank is now accusing CME of a scam for not informing it of the withdrawal of the partner, something that is not required by the contract or mentioned as a contractual breach.
It is also asking for $12 million, described as "extra payments" to be returned.
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.”
UAE tour of the Netherlands
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Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
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