Abraaj founder sentenced to 3 years in prison by UAE court: report

Published August 9, 2019
Arif Naqvi — the chief executive and founder of the collapsed Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd. — Reuters/File
Arif Naqvi — the chief executive and founder of the collapsed Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd. — Reuters/File

The chief executive and founder of the collapsed Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd, Arif Naqvi, was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison by a court in the United Arab Emirates, reported Bloomberg on Thursday.

Naqvi was handed the prison sentence in a case involving low-cost carrier Air Arabia PJSC, the publication quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.

The sentence comes days after the financial regulator of Dubai said it had imposed a record fine of nearly $315 million on two affiliates of the collapsed Abraaj group for unauthorised activities and misusing investors’ funds.

According to the Bloomberg report, Naqvi’s legal representative declined to comment on the development, while Air Arabia representatives weren’t available to comment.

In April, Naqvi was arrested in the United Kingdom on US charges that he defrauded investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In May, he was granted conditional bail of $20m after a London judge dismissed prosecutors’ bid to keep him in custody while he fought extradition to the US.

During his bail, the 58-year-old was ordered to surrender his travel documents, wear an electronic tag and stay in his London home. His bail conditions effectively amounted to house arrest, a report quoted the judge as saying at the time.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...