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Company accuses Khaldoun Saeed Al Tabari of AED4bn worth frauds
DUBAI/January 27-2021: The public prosecutor has filed an indictment in a Jordan court against the former CEO of Dubai-based troubled contractor Drake & Scull International (DSI), Khaldoun Saeed Al Tabari, the company announced on Thursday.
The UAE’s public funds prosecution had accused the former Drake & Scull CEO of several transgressions, including appropriation of funds from a public joint-stock company; squandering funds; profiteering and mismanagement, along with other financial crimes committed during his tenure as the company’s CEO and vice chairman.
Accounts to be frozen
The UAE Central Bank also directed banks operating in the Emirates to freeze Al Tabari’s accounts – as well as those of his family members – as per the decision of the Abu Dhabi Attorney-General.
Khaldoun Al Tabari (seen in the picture) left the UAE with his family in 2018 and has not returned since. He was arrested at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman as he was departing Jordan to the UK, following an Interpol red notice for his arrest on January 7, 2020, following 15 criminal complaints filed against him by DSI accusing him of financial transgressions worth more than AED4 billion.
Fraud and breach of trust
Investigations confirmed financial transgressions on Al Tabari’s part, prompting the Amman Public Prosecutor to file an indictment, including a misdemeanour charge of fraud and breach of trust for Khaldoun Al Tabari and his daughter during the period when he headed Drake & Scull in the UAE.
In addition, a third person named Saleh Mustafa Muradweij has also said to have collaborrated with Khaldoun Al Tabari. The indictment also accused the Tabaris of disbursing unjustified sums of money to an entity, in addition to paying commission for the purchase of immovable property in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.
In the indictment, Amman’s Public Prosecutor noted, “In accordance with the provisions of Articles (202) and (203) of the Criminal Procedures Law, I am filing a public right case against the accused, Khaldoun Rashid Saeed Al Tabari, Saleh Mustafa Saleh Muradweij, and Zeina Khaldoun Saeed Rashid Al Tabari, for the felony of committing fraud in buying, selling, or managing movable and immovable state or public authority funds, as per Article (175) of the Penal Code and Articles (2, 3 and 4) of the Jordanian Economic Crimes Law.”
