Dubai property tycoon Al Boom: I will repay all Dh1bn in fraud case

DUBAI // A property tycoon sentenced to 923 years in prison for embezzling almost a billion dirhams of investors' money promised yesterday to return every fils owed after Dubai's highest court ruled that he should not go to jail.
The Court of Cassation found that prosecutors had initiated proceedings against Abid Al Boom two months after the case had already been resolved in a decree by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
A clause in Sheikh Mohammed's  August 2009 decree specifies that no criminal or civil action may be taken against Mr Al Boom until all his assets are liquidated and his investors are reimbursed.
Mr Al Boom told The National yesterday that a liquidation committee appointed by Sheikh Mohammed was working to reimburse investors who lost Dh960 million.
"Now we will work with the committee to find the fastest way to repay the investors and work according to what His Highness has ordered us to do. Every investor will have his funds paid back, thanks to the wisdom and foresight of Sheikh Mohammed. That is just to both the investors and myself."
Mr Al Boom's lawyer, Hassan Al Raisi, said: "This judgment will not hurt the investors, it benefits them. To those who say they are worried they will lose their money, I say this will not happen."
Mr Al Boom was arrested in 2008 after investors in his companies – Abid Al Boom Management and Development Properties and Al Boom Holdings – accused him of defrauding them. He created a bogus property investment portfolio, took clients' money then doled out small dividends to make them think their investments were generating a return.
The case was so large and complex that a special tribunal was set up to handle it. The tribunal was told that Mr Al Boom and his accomplices had "acted like animals" after cheating investors of their savings.
"How can a man who in 2002 owned only one car that was worth less than Dh30,000 own 53 cars a few years later and become a socialite?" prosecutor Younis Al Baloushi said.
The tribunal heard that investors' money had been spent on luxury boats, parties and gifts for football players.
Mr Al Boom was convicted last year on 3,689 counts of fraud, but the case has always hinged on the crucial question of timing.
"The prosecution insisted they had taken action before Sheikh Mohammed's decree came out," said Mr Al Raisi. "But we argued all along that the case came to the courts after the decree was issued."
Sheikh Mohammed's decree also called for the formation of a liquidation commission, which has been charged with collecting an inventory of all Mr Al Boom's funds and property, and all his financial statements.
The commission has been ordered to evaluate and prepare a final list of those defrauded, and the amount each one is owed, then distribute the amounts to them.
The three-man committee is headed by the civil court judge, Saeed Al Zaabi, who sits with judge Jamal Al Jabri and Hamdi Labib from the Dubai Ruler's Court's financial auditing department.
"I would like to commend the committee and Judge Saeed Al Zaabi for the hard work they are doing," Mr Al Boom said.
He said the committee had already discovered a number of false claims by investors attempting to profit from the case. "One investor who is owed around Dh700,000 was discovered to have filed a claim worth Dh3 million," he said.
The detail involved in the review will delay the final outcome and settlement, Mr Al Raisi said.
"The committee appointed by Sheikh Mohammed is working hard and fast on this but these officials are doing this over and above their duties so the final settlement of all cases will take time," he said.
Mr Al Boom said he had already effectively served a three-year prison sentence.
"I was detained for 27 months in total, the equivalent to three years in jail. After being released on bail in September 2009, I was locked up in August 2010 before being released again on October 29 last year," he said.
He said that during that time he was given no access to telephones or internet.
amustafa@thenational.ae