Two accused of Dh41m Dubai real estate fraud

The Dubai Criminal Court heard that in 2008, A A, a Kuwaiti, and S T, a Briton, forged a fake receipt that purported to be from Nakheel stating that it had received a cheque for Dh41 million.

DUBAI// Two men are accused of defrauding a Kuwaiti real estate company out of Dh41 million by forging a receipt from developer Nakheel.

Dubai Criminal Court heard that in 2008, A A, a Kuwaiti, and S T, a Briton, forged a receipt that purported to be from Nakheel stating that it had received a cheque for Dh41m.

They presented this to Kuwait Pearl Real Estate to prove the defendants had paid the amount of the cheque to Nakheel.

The two defendants are being tried alongside S T’s British wife, M T, and Pakistani T R. All four are being tried in their absence and have never been arrested.

In 2004, Kuwait Pearl Real Estate agreed to purchase the land from Nakheel for Dh50.6m. By 2008, it already paid Dh11.6m from the total amount.

K A, 54, the manager of Kuwait Pearl Real Estate, said that A A was an employee of his company.

“We agreed with Nakheel to pay the remaining amount in instalments then A A introduced us to S T, who claimed to be a lawyer and he said he could handle processing the payments on our behalf,” said K A, a Kuwaiti.

“The defendants started a company called The Palm in Ras Al Khaimah and asked that we made the cheques out to The Palm, claiming this was Nakheel’s request,” the manager said.

The defendants said they could handle the payments in return for a Dh1m fee.

But once the defendants took the Dh41m cheque, they embezzled the money, the court heard.

A A and S T are charged with forgery and use of a forged document. All four are charged with fraudulently obtaining Dh41m and money laundering by transferring the money to different bank accounts outside the UAE.

M T and T R are charged with aiding and abetting the other two defendants.

The case was adjourned until December 19.