DUBAI// Two men are accused of defrauding a Kuwaiti real estate company out of Dh41 million by forging a receipt from developer Nakheel.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that in 2008, A A, a Kuwaiti, and S T, a Briton, forged a receipt that purported to be from Nakheel stating that it had received a cheque for Dh41m.
They presented this to Kuwait Pearl Real Estate to prove the defendants had paid the amount of the cheque to Nakheel.
The two defendants are being tried alongside S T’s British wife, M T, and Pakistani T R. All four are being tried in their absence and have never been arrested.
In 2004, Kuwait Pearl Real Estate agreed to purchase the land from Nakheel for Dh50.6m. By 2008, it already paid Dh11.6m from the total amount.
K A, 54, the manager of Kuwait Pearl Real Estate, said that A A was an employee of his company.
“We agreed with Nakheel to pay the remaining amount in instalments then A A introduced us to S T, who claimed to be a lawyer and he said he could handle processing the payments on our behalf,” said K A, a Kuwaiti.
“The defendants started a company called The Palm in Ras Al Khaimah and asked that we made the cheques out to The Palm, claiming this was Nakheel’s request,” the manager said.
The defendants said they could handle the payments in return for a Dh1m fee.
But once the defendants took the Dh41m cheque, they embezzled the money, the court heard.
A A and S T are charged with forgery and use of a forged document. All four are charged with fraudulently obtaining Dh41m and money laundering by transferring the money to different bank accounts outside the UAE.
M T and T R are charged with aiding and abetting the other two defendants.
The case was adjourned until December 19.
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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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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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