A third man jailed over a multimillion-dollar bribery conspiracy to secure oil infrastructure contracts in Iraq has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.
The collapse of the third case comes at a time when Britain’s most senior anti-bribery prosecutor has been criticised in a review for making “a number of mistakes” in the case — including texting an alleged “fixer” using her personal phone.
Former Iraq territory manager for energy company Unaoil, Stephen Whiteley, 67, was jailed for three years in 2020 over an alleged plot to pay out bribes totalling $6 million (£4.9 million) to politicians and state-owned companies after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.
On Thursday, the UK's Court of Appeal overturned his conviction. The move follows a decision to quash the convictions of his co-defendants Ziad Akle and Paul Bond.
In December last year, Mr Akle had his conviction overturned after three judges found that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had “failed fundamentally” to provide documents that “had a clear potential to embarrass the agency in their prosecution of this case” relating to its contact with US citizen David Tinsley.
A review published this week revealed that Lisa Osofsky, director of the SFO, had messaged Mr Tinsley, a non-legal representative of members of the Ahsani family, the owners of Unaoil, in 2018.
The Court of Appeal previously heard that Mr Tinsley had acted as a “fixer” for the founder of Unaoil, British-Iranian Ata Ahsani, and his two sons.
The review by Sir David Calvert-Smith, a former director of public prosecutions and high court judge, identified a series of “fundamental failures” by senior SFO managers.
The court had heard that Mr Tinsley had contact with Ms Osofsky, and had contacted two defendants to discuss their pleas in a bid to encourage the SFO to not prosecute any of the Ahsani family.
Senior judges previously said the SFO “should have had nothing to do with” Mr Tinsley.
The Ahsani case was ultimately taken to the US, where brothers Cyrus and Saman Ahsani negotiated plea deals in relation to the bribes, but the SFO prosecuted Mr Akle, Mr Whiteley, Mr Bond and a fourth man Basil Al-Jarah.
In March this year, Mr Bond’s conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal, which found that the SFO’s failure to disclose the documents had rendered the conviction unsafe.
Mr Bond’s quashed conviction alone cost an estimated £1.5m, according to the SFO’s annual report.
On Thursday, Mr Whiteley, from Beverley, Yorkshire, made an unopposed bid to overturn his conviction on similar grounds at the Court of Appeal.
Justice Robert Jay, sitting with Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde and Justice Joel Bennathan, said that the SFO accepts “there is no material distinction to be drawn” between Mr Whiteley’s case and those of Mr Bond and Mr Akle.
“We are grateful to the SFO for their realistic approach,” Mr Jay said. “It follows the appeal must be allowed and the conviction quashed.”
An independent review into the SFO’s failings in the case was launched by Attorney General Suella Braverman after it was found that documents that may have “embarrassed” the agency — related to its contact with Mr Tinsley — were not provided.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Elvis
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
