DUBAI // Two drunk tourists assaulted an undercover police officer who was trying to arrest a prostitute, a court heard today.
AG, 26 and JB, 20, both Britons, grabbed the policeman by his neck, swore at him and punched him in the face as they helped the woman to escape. The policeman's plight ended only when two passersby came to his rescue and helped him apprehend the men.
Prosecutors told the Misdemeanours Court that the two tourists were looking for a place to have breakfast in Al Mankhool at dawn on November 25 last year when they saw the policeman AS, 34, an Emirati, grab a European woman.
When they confronted him over what he was doing the officer, who was in civilian clothes, told them he was a policeman and that he was arresting the woman for prostitution.
"They wouldn't listen and one of them grabbed me by the neck while the other grabbed my face and they tried to free the woman and help her escape," recalled the policeman.
"I showed them my police ID and told them this was an arrest but they wouldn't listen and one of them punched me on the face while the other insulted me with foul language," he added.
Two Egyptians, TS, 37 and AH, drew up alongside the policeman while the two Britons were assaulting him and came to his rescue.
"The man being assaulted shouted at us seeking help and said he was a policeman," recalled one of the Egyptians. The pair got out of the car and helped the policemen restrain the two Britons.
"When the officer flashed his ID and then tried to handcuff them, one of them escaped but he was chased and arrested then both men started insulting the police officer," said the Egyptian.
Both the British tourists were taken to the police station where they were found to be drunk. Both denied assaulting the officer, saying they had intervened because they did not know the man was an officer or what he was trying to do.
"When they tried to handcuff me, I refused because I didn't know they were police but when I did, I willingly stretched out my hands and was cuffed," said one of the tourists.
"When I knew they were officers, nothing illegal happened from my side," said the other tourist.
No charges of assault were raised against either tourist, but both were found guilty by the Misdemeanours Court on a charge of illegally consuming alcohol and fined Dh2,000 each.
salamir@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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