Dubai – Mubasher: The founder of embattled Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group, Arif Naqvi, and Crescent Group’s chairman Hamid Jafar has reached an agreement to settle a $217 million bounced cheque case, Naqvi’s lawyer said.
Under the UAE law, bad cheque charges can be dropped once both parties reach a settlement, Naqvi’s lawyer and executive chairman of law firm Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla stated.
“Accordingly, the parties will apply to the court and the public prosecution to withdraw the cases brought on the bounced checks,” Al Mulla told Bloomberg News.
On Sunday, Naqvi was sentenced to three years in prison in the bounced cheque case by an emirate court.
The ailing private equity firm Abraaj Group, once one of the developing world’s influential investors, has been facing a backlash of money misusage allegations at its $1 billion healthcare fund.
Several companies in the region, particularly those listed in the UAE, have disclosed their exposure to Abraaj as per a circular issued by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). Such companies included Air Arabia’s AED 1.2 billion exposure, Al Qudra Investments, and the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD).
