LONDON // Lawyers for a millionaire British businessman accused of arranging to have his bride murdered on their honeymoon will go to court today in a bid to get him freed on bail.
Shrien Dewani was arrested at his parents' home in Bristol earlier this week after one of the men who took part in last month's murder of 28-year-old Anni Dewani in South Africa claimed that her new husband organised and paid for the killing.
Mr Dewani was taken into custody on a South African extradition warrant and appeared before a judge in London on Wednesday, where he was granted bail on a £250,000 (Dh1.4 million) surety.
However, lawyers for South African prosecutors lodged documents opposing bail, which meant Mr Dewani, 30, had to remain in jail. His legal team is now preparing an appeal to the High Court in London today.
Mrs Dewani was shot dead after the taxi that was taking the couple through the Gugulethu township in Cape Town was carjacked by two men at gunpoint.
The vehicle was driven off with Mrs Dewani still inside after her husband and the driver, Robert Zola Tongo, had been bundled out. She was later found, shot through the neck, in the abandoned taxi.
Tongo stunned a Cape Town courtroom this week when he accused Mr Dewani, who had married his wife in a lavish, three-day celebration in Mumbai at the end of October, of paying him and the other two killers 15,000 rand (Dh7,950) each to carry out the killing.
In return for this revelation, which was part of a plea bargain, Tongo's 25-year sentence was reduced by seven years.
A spokesman for Mr Dewani, who owns several care homes for the elderly in the Bristol area, has described Tongo's claims as "ludicrous".
Mr Dewani told reporters before his arrest: "Saying I was somehow involved defies logic. Anni wasn't on any life insurance policies and we hadn't even made a will.
"I had no motive, financial or otherwise. I loved her and I still love her."
However, a report in The Sun newspaper yesterday said that Mr Dewani had been recorded on CCTV handing over money to Tongo in a Cape Town hotel several days after his wife's death. South African authorities have refused to comment on the report.
Mrs Dewani, whose parents had grown rich from selling heavy duty electrical equipment in Sweden after they had been expelled from Uganda in Idi Amin's purge of Asians in 1972, had met Mr Dewani 15 months before their marriage.
Mr Dewani's own parents had flourished in the property market after emigrating from India. The newlyweds had planned to live in a £3.6m home that Mr Dewani and his brother own in London.
Clare Montgomery, Mr Dewani's barrister, who lodged today's appeal to get him freed on bail, said yesterday that the case against him was "flimsy" and based on testimony of self-confessed robbers and murderers desperate to get their sentences cut.
dsapsted@thenational.ae
Results
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
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.”
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
TEAMS
US Team
Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler
Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed
Matt Kuchar, Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*
International Team
Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
Marc Leishman, Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
Emiliano Grillo*, Anirban Lahiri*
* denotes captain's picks
