DUBAI // A policeman who stopped a British pilot for making an illegal U-turn at a road junction then asked him for Dh3,000 in return for not issuing a ticket and confiscating his car has been jailed for six months.
Omani policeman A A, 24, was found guilty of seeking and accepting bribes by Dubai Criminal Court, which also fined him Dh3,000 and ordered his deportation after he completes the jail term.
Emirates Airline pilot R D, 32, said that on June 22 last year he was driving his Porsche Carrera near Mall of the Emirates when he took the illegal turn.
“A police patrol followed me then stopped me and the officer asked for my licence and registration,” the Briton said. “He told me that I made a grave mistake that could have landed me in a traffic accident.”
The pilot added that he was told that this offence would earn him a fine of Dh2,500 to Dh3,000 and his car would be seized for a month.
“He told me he will seize the car then asked me to wait until he talked to his partner,” said R D. “He then returned and gave me back my documents but asked for my mobile number. He called later and asked for the Dh2,500 in order not to seize the car.”
The Briton said that A A called again, this time asking for Dh3,000. He asked some friends whether requests like this were legal and when told it was not he reported the officer to Bur Dubai police station.
“My friends checked the offence online and found it was only a Dh450 fine and that he exaggerated the amount and spoke of car confiscation, so he scared me into accepting his offer,” said R D.
Police told him not to answer calls from the officer until a warrant was obtained.
“While with a police officer heading to the criminal investigations department, the defendant called me 10 times,” the pilot said.
The Omani defendant was later arrested in a sting operation while he was still in uniform.
“This didn’t happen,” said A A in court, denying the charge last September.
However, the court disagreed and he was jailed.
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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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