Law chief weighs next move in massive fraud case

The Advocate General Khalifa bin Deemas holds a closed meeting with prosecution chiefs to discuss the order to reinvestigate the country's largest incident of fraud.

DUBAI // The Advocate General Khalifa bin Deemas held a closed meeting with prosecution chiefs yesterday to discuss the reinvestigation of the country's largest fraud case. The trial involves the alleged embezzlement of Dh1.8 billion from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) by seven businessmen and has been ongoing for 17 months. The Criminal Court of First Instance on Monday ordered the reinvestigation after Judge Hamad Abdel Latif ruled that the court did not have the authority to level new charges brought by prosecutors during the course of the trial.

Advocate General bin Deemas met with the chief prosecutors Hamad Bilal al Khalafi, of the Higher Prosecution office, and Ismail Hassan al Madani, of the Monetary and Public Funds Prosecution office, to discuss the details of the ruling. "The court's recommendation to reinvestigate the case as a public fund inquiry will be studied, investigated and considered," said Advocate General bin Deemas. "The Monetary and Public Funds Prosecutor will handle the investigation."

Defence lawyer Habib al Mulla has asked that four high-ranking DIB executives be investigated, claiming the fraud could not have taken place without their knowledge. The executives were identified as former DIB chairman M K, director of commercial financing M K, head of operations M N and the head of the risk assessment department, F H. @Email:[e-mail]