Glenn Stewart, former chief executive of The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), is facing a legal claim of at least $9 billion (Dh33bn) in America from the Al Gosaibi family of Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), the family's partnership, has filed an action in California that alleges aiding and abetting fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and fraud conspiracy, and unjust enrichment while he was chief executive of the now bankrupt Bahraini bank.
Mr Stewart, who fled Bahrain last year for his native California, said in an e-mail to The National that he would respond in detail once he had time to study the claims, but denied all the allegations.
The action against Mr Stewart is only the second against an individual executive in the dispute between AHAB and Maan Al Sanea, the head of Saudi conglomerate Saad Group. Claims have also been filed against Mr Al Sanea.
The Bahrain authorities have held a criminal hearing involving 15 executives of either TIBC and another Bahrain bank, Awal, including Mr Stewart and Mr Al Sanea.
When TIBC and Awal collapsed in May 2009 it sparked a corporate battle between AHAB and Saad that has led to allegations of multibillion dollar fraud and legal actions on three continents.
Mr Al Sanea has consistently denied the allegations.
The California action alleges that TIBC "was a sham bank and had no real customers. Mr Stewart knew that it had no real customers, having played a central role in fabricating and documenting a portfolio of dummy borrowers to make it appear TIBC had real banking business, in fraud of regulators, lenders and AHAB.
"TIBC succeeded in borrowing well in excess of $10bn, using, inter alia, forged loan documents, forged board minutes and resolutions, and other concocted paperwork," says the AHAB claim.
The filing claims $9bn on three counts, $100m on two others, and $1 billion in exemplary and punitive damages.
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Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
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The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
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Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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