Man who helped embezzle Dh23.5m of his wife's money to buy Portsmouth FC is jailed



An account manager and the husband of a client will spend five years in jail after they stole £5 million (Dh23.6m) from the Emirati housewife’s account so her husband could buy Portsmouth Football Club.

Dubai Criminal Court convicted the Emirati manager, 42, of theft, forgery of official documents and use of forged official documents. The victim's husband, an Emirati also aged 42, was found guilty of forgery and use of forged documents as well as aiding and abetting. Both were sentenced to five years in prison.
Prosecutors said the 39-year-old housewife opened an account at a local bank in 2009 and began a fixed deposit. When she did not receive any profit she contacted the accounts manager.
"He sent me an email in August 2010 confirming that the procedures for the fixed deposit had been completed and recommended that I continue my investment for another year," said the woman, adding that she received several emails from the manager asking her to sign some documents, which she refused to do.
In September 2011, she emailed the manager asking him to transfer the amount of her fixed deposit to a different bank because she had not received any profit.
"But he kept stalling so I visited the bank and met the bank manager and another man, they told me that my account had zero money in it," said the woman, who reported the incident to the bank's legal affairs department.
"When the legal affairs didn't do anything, I reported it to Al Rashidiyah police station," she said.
The manager told police that the woman's husband was handling her fixed deposit after she gave him official authorisation, and that he - the husband - transferred the money to a law firm in the UK. Court records showed that the money was later used by the law firm representing the husband, to purchase the English Premier League football club Portsmouth.

The woman denied giving her husband authorisation to manage the account, saying "I didn't give my husband any authorisation to withdraw or transfer the money, I just gave him an authorisation to handle general inquires by phone and fax".
The court sentenced both men to five years in prison and ordered that the civil case be referred to the civil court.

England ODI squad

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

yallacompare profile

Date of launch: 2014

Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer

Based: Media City, Dubai 

Sector: Financial services

Size: 120 employees

Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)

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THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

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Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director: Anu Menon

Rating: Three out of five stars

Teams in the EHL

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Tips from the expert

Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.

  1. Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
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French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

Tips for job-seekers
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The specs
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Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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