A US judge has ordered relatives of Hazem al Braikan and two Kuwaiti companies to pay about US$6.4 million (Dh23.5m) in restitution and fines to settle a stock market manipulation case that took a morbid turn after al Braikan died in an apparent suicide last year.
The settlement of the charges against al Braikan and the other Kuwaiti companies, which have said they merely acted at Mr al Braikan's behest, brings to a close a sad chapter in the frenetic financial history of the Gulf, where many markets are loosely regulated and talk of insider trading and rumour-mongering is rampant.
Judge Naomi Buchwald approved a settlement reached in August between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and al Braikan's estate, Al Raya Investment Company and Kipco Asset Management Company (KAMCO). This month the judge cancelled a freeze placed on KAMCO's assets after it paid its share of the judgment, about $2.4m. Al Raya has paid $1.5m, but al Braikan's estate sought and received in August a two-month extension on payment of the $2.5m that was owed.
"Al Braikan was sued by the SEC in July last year for engaging in an illicit scheme to profit by issuing hoax takeover announcements for Harman International Industriesand another company," the SEC said in a statement in August. "The SEC's emergency action, filed three days after the trading in Harman occurred, froze millions of dollars in profits before they could be sent overseas."
The SEC had alleged that al Braikan made millions of dollars by planting false rumours about acquisitions of Harman, an audio equipment company, and Textron, an aviation company based in the US state of Rhode Island. He allegedly used his own accounts to make the trades, along with those over which he had control at Al Raya, the company where he was chief executive, and at KAMCO, his former employer.
Al Braikan allegedly concocted a press release in July last year about a bid by a Saudi Arabian firm called Arabian Peninsula Group to take over Harman for $49.50 a share, almost double the stock's value at the time, according to the SEC's complaint.
Al Braikan had allegedly bought millions of Harman shares, and received a huge windfall when a US website picked up the report, sending the stock's price up by almost 40 per cent. The price went back down after the company denied the report an hour later, but the SEC claimed that al Braikan was able to reap massive profits.
"According to the allegations … al Braikan fabricated the press release over the weekend of July 18 to 19, 2009, scouring the internet for an appropriate graphic logo for his fictional entity and preparing various drafts of the hoax release, which he then faxed or e-mailed to various news organisations in the US and abroad," the SEC said. "He also made dozens of calls to various media outlets in the US and abroad in an attempt to convince them to pick up the story."
Al Braikan used a similar tactic in April last year to inflate the share price of Textron, the SEC alleged.
He died of a gunshot wound at his home in Kuwait in July last year, aged 30, just a week after the SEC lodged its complaint. The court appointed his brother Waleed to represent him after his death.
United Gulf Bank, originally named as a defendant by the SEC, has been cleared of charges and excluded from the case. As a condition of the settlement, none of the defendants admitted or denied the allegations.
Representatives of al Braikan, KAMCO and Al Raya did not return requests for comment.
afitch@thenational.ae
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Scoreline
Germany 2
Werner 9', Sane 19'
Netherlands 2
Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Neo%20Mobility%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20February%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abhishek%20Shah%20and%20Anish%20Garg%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Delta%20Corp%2C%20Pyse%20Sustainability%20Fund%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Turkey - because the government look after animals so well there.
Favourite film: I love scary movies. I have so many favourites but The Ring stands out.
Favourite book: The Lord of the Rings. I didn’t like the movies but I loved the books.
Favourite colour: Black.
Favourite music: Hard rock. I actually also perform as a rock DJ in Dubai.
PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
