DUBAI // Two men kidnapped two women and robbed them after demanding a Dh2,000 ransom from their visa sponsor, a Dubai court heard this morning.
The men denied the charges before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance.
Prosecutors said the defendants EA, 32, and MB, 35, both Egyptians, approached the two women as they were walking in the Naif area at around 8pm one night in September of last year, and the men posed as police officers.
They asked for the women's IDs and told them they had to go with them to the police station because they were violating residency regulations by staying in the country for too long, prosecutors said.
The men allegedly transported the two victims in a Nissan Sunny car, and locked them up in a studio flat.
The Ugandan victim WN, 20, and PO, 26, from Nigeria, told prosecutors that when they arrived at the flat, the defendants threatened to kill them while carrying cleavers and knives. Then, they called the women's sponsor and asked her for a Dh2,000 ransom to let them go, prosecutors said. The sponsor did not pay the ransom.
However, two hours later, the men let the victims go after stealing their two mobile phones and Dh50 from their bags, prosecutors said.
The women filed a report at the Naif police station. Police searched the flat and arrested the men.
The next hearing will be on May 11 to appoint a defense lawyer.
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.”
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