A Syrian shipping tycoon is controlling maritime and property businesses in Greece despite being sanctioned by the US for his alleged dealing with the Houthis and Hezbollah, The National can reveal.
Abdul Jalil Mallah is subject to an arrest warrant in the UK and has been listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Treasury since 2021 for his involvement with Hezbollah and the Houthis in deals it says were worth “millions of dollars". The 50-year-old has claimed he has distanced himself from his Greece-based business operations, which once operated dozens of vessels. However, visits to the headquarters as well as court documents suggest he is still in charge.
An investigation by the Greek journalism organisation iMEdD and The National reveals that Mr Mallah appears to operate the business in Greece despite being under sanctions. A network of companies and associates in Greece were exposed in court actions taken after the US sanctions announcement.
"Mr Mallah is not in the office. I am only here today to clean up,” a voice in broken Greek said when iMEdD pressed the buzzer at the doorstep of a first-floor office in a six-storey apartment building in Piraeus. The building, which has no visible security or guards, was mentioned in British court documents and is also the address for Mr Mallah's company registration. The Greek Land Registry lists five properties within the building as being owned by Mr Mallah.
While the cleaner said Mr Mallah had not "been at the office for a while", the man said he would pass on a message. From the office doorway, shelves filled with files and documents were visible inside.
In the entrance hallway, the name Mallah Ship Management is listed alongside each apartment, one of which is used as an office. On the notice board common expenses for all residents, including the man referred to locally as the "captain", for the year to January 2025 were displayed.
Mr Mallah's legal woes can be traced to July 2019 when he struck a deal with three subsidiaries of the US firm Oaktree Capital Management (OCM) to finance the acquisition of two cargo ships – the Amethyst and the Courage. Under the agreement, known as a bareboat charter and common in the shipping industry, the vessels were to be chartered by Mr Mallah’s companies for a specified period, with an option to purchase them at the end of the contract.
OCM sought to terminate the deal in June 2021 when Mr Mallah was placed under sanctions, and his assets and bank accounts were subject to a US freezing order. Subsequent lawsuits sought to wrest control from Mr Mallah.
The battle culminated when British court documents alleged that despite attempting to distance himself from his shipping businesses, Mr Mallah continued to control the assets through a proxy. During the proceedings the court heard he was placed under surveillance by OCM and was seen "on several occasions" at the office of one of his companies in Greece.
As far back as 2012 Mr Mallah registered the Mallah Ship Management Co Ltd with UK Companies House, and a month later the company applied for and received permission to set up an office in Greece. Its activities expanded and at one point he sold five ships in his fleet within a few months, for around $20 million.
The tussle for the OCM-chartered ships is only partially concluded. According to UK court documents, OCM succeeded in recovering the Amethyst but not the Courage, which remains in Latakia, Syria, where it has been since Mr Mallah was sued by OCM. Two lawyers based in Piraeus who had handled Mr Mallah’s legal battle with OCM said the shipping community had been shaken by the situation.
"At one point, he owned or controlled more than 50 ships. When he got caught up in US sanctions, it became a widely discussed issue in Piraeus, and at events with shipping industry professionals," the lawyers said.
According to the Equasis shipping database, a company based in Marousi, on the east side of Athens, is currently listed as the safety manager for the Courage. The same company was last year described in the British documents as being controlled by Mr Mallah.
The company’s legal representative in Marousi is the same person the British court had designated as Mr Mallah’s proxy. Contacted by iMEdD, he denied any connection to the company or the ship. However he said he would pass on a request for an interview to the Syrian ship owner. A few days later, an email message from Mr Mallah landed.
The shipping tycoon insisted he was the victim of a set-up. "I have nothing to do with Hezbollah and the Houthis," he told iMEdD. "This is a big lie against me to rob me."
Yemen connection
Last year the US Treasury also sanctioned four ships belonging to Mr Mallah's brother Luay Al Mallah. Announcing the sanctions the US described Abdul Jalil Mallah as an "illicit shipping magnate", while his brother has "continued to use their shipping empire to support Iran’s malign activities and those of its proxies".
The US authorities maintain Mr Mallah facilitated transactions worth millions of dollars to Swaid and Sons, a Yemeni exchange house associated with the Houthis. He has worked with Sa’id Al Jamal to send millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil to Hezbollah, the Americans allege.
Mr Al Jamal, a financial supporter of the Houthis based in Iran, directs a network of front companies and vessels that smuggle Iranian fuel, petroleum products and other commodities to customers throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He has used Swaid and Sons to send millions of dollars to IRGC Quds Force officials deployed in Yemen, the US Treasury claims.
Courtroom twist
OCM had also sought £1 million ($1.2 million) in legal costs and in a subsequent court order in May 2024, Mr Mallah was given a prison sentence for fraud.
Mr Mallah's submissions included forged documents purporting to be from the Greek authorities showing he had left the country before the notice was served, which led to a hearing for contempt of court. The judge in the initial case, Andrew Smith, ruled that Mr Mallah’s side had provided no written or oral evidence proving he was no longer the true owner of the companies. The British court also determined that a lawyer was acting as Mr Mallah’s proxy.
High Court judge Sara Cockerill found he failed to respond to a request to declare his assets, and when he finally did, he claimed he had never received the summons at his Piraeus address because he had already left Greece.
Judge Cockerill said it was “inherently implausible” that the Greek authorities would provide personalised documents saying the Syrian had left the country and that inquiries via Interpol found these to be “counterfeit”. Mr Mallah also made “demonstrably false” claims that he was not the beneficial owner of properties in Sweden and Greece, she said. She ruled Mr Mallah “quite deliberately lied to the court” in the case and provided “multiple false statements” including forged documents.
She sentenced him to 18 months in jail for contempt of court after she said he appeared to show no remorse for his actions. In addition Mr Mallah had submitted five court judgments from Syrian and UAE courts, which he claimed proved that OCC owes him around €20 million ($21 million) in relation to the two ships.
"They are making false claims and statements based on deception in order to take over the company I was running," Mr Mallah said in an emailed response to the request. "Anything built on falsehood is a lie."
OCM declined to comment.
– Kostas Koukoumakas and George Schinas of iMEdD contributed to this report.
RESULTS
West Asia Premiership
Thursday
Jebel Ali Dragons 13-34 Dubai Exiles
Friday
Dubai Knights Eagles 16-27 Dubai Tigers
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Full list of Emmy 2020 nominations
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
OUTSTANDING VARIETY/TALK SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria
OUTSTANDING REALITY/COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
How it works
1) The liquid nanoclay is a mixture of water and clay that aims to convert desert land to fertile ground
2) Instead of water draining straight through the sand, it apparently helps the soil retain water
3) One application is said to last five years
4) The cost of treatment per hectare (2.4 acres) of desert varies from $7,000 to $10,000 per hectare
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
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'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
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