Former Abraaj Group founder and chief executive Arif Naqvi faces extradition proceedings in London on Monday as he battles to avoid a trial in the United States for fraud and money laundering following the collapse of the private equity company.
Mr Naqvi, 59, has been living under curfew at a luxury gated London apartment block for more than a year after his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport when he returned to the UK from Pakistan in April 2019.
He has been accused in US court documents of misappropriating more than $400 million (Dh1.46 billion) from Abraaj funds to hide losses in what he touted as the Middle East’s largest private equity company. Mr Naqvi has denied any wrong-doing and is fighting extradition.
US prosecutors say that Mr Naqvi was at the heart of a conspiracy to take money from funds and falsify financial records to hide the parlous position of his group of businesses.
Abraaj, which was founded in 2002 and claimed to manage almost $14bn of assets at its peak, was one of the world’s most active emerging market investors with interests across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Turkey and the Middle East.
The firm's demise came after investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commissioned an audit to investigate the alleged mismanagement of money within its healthcare fund. It emerged that the firm’s main revenues had not covered its operating costs for years.
In a 2019 indictment signed by the now-ousted US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, the former Dubai-based businessman and five other men were accused of a raft of charges including fraud, money laundering and theft.
Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, a former managing partner, was arrested while on a trip to the US with his wife and son. He pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in September. Other defendants charged in New York are outside of US custody.
Dubai’s financial regulator has also fined Abraaj $315m for deceiving investors and misappropriating their funds.
Mr Naqvi has asked to appear by remote video-link for the scheduled four-day hearing that is due to start on Monday, according to the UK prosecution service. His lawyers are due to appear in person as the UK courts increase their operations after Covid-19-related postponements.
Mr Naqvi spent more than a month inside a British prison until he was bailed in return for a bond of £15m (Dh68m), believed to be a record sum in the UK courts. He was told he had to remain within the perimeter of his apartment block 24-hours a day and was given an electronic tag to ensure he did not flee.
The terms of his bail have been steadily eased and he has been allowed to exercise for two hours every day in nearby Hyde Park and attend prayers at London Central Mosque on Fridays.
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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The view from The National
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
More coverage from the Future Forum
Mountain%20Boy
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Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
