UAE

Supervisor accused of embezzlement was 'morally destroyed' by airline

LH, an Iranian who was stationed at British Airway's Dubai International Airport office, is accused of using an airline debit card to withdraw Dh30,730.

Awad Mustafa

August 04, 2010

  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // The defence lawyer for a British Airways customer services supervisor accused of embezzling more than Dh30,000 in compensation funds said yesterday the airline was trying to "morally abuse" his client. The 31-year-old supervisor, who was employed by the airline for nine years, was charged in a Dubai court with breach of trust, forgery and the use of forged documents to illegally acquire Dh30,730 from British Airways.

LH, an Iranian who was stationed at the company's Dubai International Airport office, is accused of using an airline debit card to withdraw the funds. Prosecutors told the court LH had used the debit card to get money 10 times in the past four years. The debit card is used to compensate passengers for lost baggage, damaged luggage or cancelled flights. The airline filed the complaint after a customer services manager discovered a discrepancy in one of the compensation claims. The manager informed the company's Middle East commercial manager, Paolo De Renzis, who filed a police report on December 1.

"A £300 [Dh1,800] payment was made by LH in a claim that was supposed to be worth £90," he said. "Further investigation between Dubai and London revealed she had regularly been funnelling money from the airline." LH denied the charges for a second time in court yesterday. Her case is being retried after the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours dismissed it last March on grounds it was beyond its jurisdiction.

Prosecutors appealed and the retrial in misdemeanour court was ordered. LH's lawyer accused British Airways of "morally abusing" his client with the case. Saeed al Ghailani told the court LH had admitted her mistake and repaid the airline after the original investigation. He said British Airways had "conspired under the cover of darkness" to falsely accuse his client and cover up their mistakes. "Your honour, after my client rectified the situation, she returned to work. But she has subsequently been suspended since November 5. This is the worst kind of abuse - they have morally and psychologically destroyed her," Mr al Ghailani said.

He also argued the case had no standing because the bulk of the accusations come from an investigation carried out in the UK and not in the UAE. The court will issue its verdict next week. amustafa@thenational.ae

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.”

On Women's Day
Squads

Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.

India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.

Technology