NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Investment scam arrests
ABU DHABI - SEP 25: Police arrested two men accused of running an unlicensed investment scheme that cost 1,300 people a total of Dh320 million (US$87.1m), with some losing as much as Dh700,000.
The men, an Emirati and a Sudanese, allegedly promised investors a monthly return of as much as 40 per cent on their initial investments.
Abu Dhabi Police said the investment scam had operated since 2004 and continued to attract investors until April of this year, when dividends suddenly stopped.
The scheme, as described by police, is reminiscent of the “case of the missing wallet”, in which more than 8,000 people were promised monthly returns of 30 to 40 per cent and lost an estimated Dh400m.
The alleged mastermind of that fraud, A Q Qublan, is awaiting trial with other defendants in that case.
Today, the police said they were told of the latest fraud by an Emirati who gave the Sudanese suspect, identified as E H, Dh100,000 to invest in S H Trading Company. Police said the man called them after a period during which he had not received any dividends.
Lt Col Ibrahim Hamad al Hana’i, who heads the Abu Dhabi Police organised crime unit, said the Emirati suspect, identified as S E, told investigators that he met E H in 2004.
S E initially invested an unknown amount with E H and began receiving high dividends. S E then was asked by E H to get a legitimate business license for an electronics trading company.
Encouraged by the profits, S E agreed and licensed SH Trading Company, which the men co-owned. S E invested Dh40,000 in 2005.
With high dividends continuing, S E carried on investing in the company. He encouraged friends and family to also put money into SH Trading and later opened investment opportunities to the public, the police said.
Until April, investors received dividends. After some of them asked S E about the missing dividends, he confronted E H, who told him that business was not going well.
According to police, S E then contacted a legal consultant and was told that the investments he was collecting from people were illegal. S E then asked E H for the Dh20m that he had invested in SH Trading.
E H on June 12 gave S E a cheque drawn on a UAE bank for DH320m, to pay back investors. When S E tried to deposit the cheque, he was told there were insufficient funds to cover it. He then filed a police complaint against E H, and both men were arrested.
Depot with poor safety record burns
SHARJAH - SEP. 25: A huge fire yesterday destroyed the depot of an oil company with a history of safety lapses.
The firm, which cannot be named due to pending charges, was storing at least 200 barrels of oil at the site in the Sajja industrial area.
Police said the company was violating numerous safety rules and did not have basic safety requirements in place to control a fire. It had previously been fined for violating safety laws.
The fire came three months after police cut off electricity and water supplies to the depot. However, the company continued to operate.
The blaze, the second at an oil company in less than a week, engulfed the depot after starting around 10am. Firemen battled for three hours to contain the flames, which leapt up to 30 metres in the air, as oil barrels exploded around them.
Col Mohammed al Madhloom, the director of Sharjah Police operations room, said emergency services managed to contain the fire from spreading to other warehouses. “It was a huge fire because of the amount of oil that was stored in barrels,” he said. “Owners have told us there were 200 barrels and all exploded, leaving flames exceeding 30 metres and a mass of smoke rising up to 3km.”
He added that at first, firemen had trouble getting to the burning depot because many cars were parked in front of it.
“The foremost task of the firefighters was then to first save these cars, we’re glad no car was gutted, all were saved, there were about seven cars,” he said.
No injuries were reported.
A spokesman for the company admitted they had previously been fined but claimed they had rectified safety concerns and by the time the fire broke out, the electricity and water supply had been reconnected.
On Saturday, fire crews from Sharjah and other emirates were stretched to the limit to control an inferno at the Emirates Refinery Company (Erco) that led to the closing of Port Khalid.
The fire, which broke out in a cooking-oil storage depot in the early hours, caused an estimated Dh7 billion (US$1.9bn) damage.
An investigation is under way but police said Erco had correct safety procedures in place.
Yesterday, First Lt Khaled al Suwaidi of the Sharjah Police patrol reiterated that companies dealing with flammable materials were required by law to adhere to strict safety standards.
“Our concern is mostly with the big oil depots or warehouses. It’s inconceivable they continue flaunting the rules.”
Atlantis opens on time and makes a big splash
DUBAI - SEP 25: After all the hype, the last-minute glitches and the splashing out of billions of dirhams, Fintan O’Rourke yesterday gave his verdict: “It’s amazing ... but it scared the life out of me!”
Having brought his wife and three children to the opening day of the Atlantis Hotel, the US$1.5bn (Dh5.5bn) resort on Palm Jumeirah, Mr O’Rourke had just taken his first Leap of Faith and was still feeling the effects.
The waterslide, with its sheer, 27.5 metre drop – the equivalent of stepping out of a fifth-floor window – was the resort’s most anticipated attraction, and it did not disappoint.
“The first thing I noticed was that the water was really cold. Then it was just this sheer vertical drop. All you can see is a mist ahead. You just lose all sense of gravity.”
After the vertical plunge, the tallest, fastest free-fall waterslide in the Middle East sends you speeding through a transparent tunnel inside a lagoon filled with sharks.
“There is so much water spray I didn’t really notice the sharks but you are still going really fast. Then there’s another sheer drop from the tunnel and splash into the water below and then it’s all over. It’s a real rush.”
Once finished, Mr O’Rourke was all for climbing back up and doing it all over again.
His wife Laura was not as enthusiastic. “You are not going to get me going on that,” she said. “It looks excellent but it would be a bit too much for me.”
Yesterday’s opening of the 1,539-bedroom hotel appeared to go remarkably smoothly. The project, a joint venture between Kerzner International, based in The Bahamas, and Istithmar, a subsidiary of Dubai World, includes a water park, dolphinarium, shops, conference halls and 17 restaurants.
As Mr O’Rourke’s heart rate began to slow down, he and his and family, who live on the Palm Jumeirah, went off to explore the rest of the resort.
“The first thing my son said when we walked into the lobby and saw the fish tank was: ‘Look Daddy, it’s Nemo’”, referring to one of the clownfish that figures prominently in the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.
In fact Rafferty, aged two, will have seen a few “Nemos” as the Ambassador Lagoon is full of clownfish. They share the 11 million-litre tank with marine life from the Arabian Gulf, including golden trevallys, cobias and crescent angelfish.
Peering into the massive aquarium is like standing 10 metres under water. The lost city of Atlantis has been concocted on the tank floor and thousands of fish swim in and out of its sunken streets. In all, the resort is home to 65,000 fish and sea creatures.
Nevertheless, it has faced a flurry of criticism from conservationists who said the hotel should not have imported 28 captured bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands.
One of the hotel’s star attractions, a whale shark found in distress in shallow waters off Jebel Ali, is to be released back into the wild after it has recovered.
Yesterday, as 700 guests checked into their rooms, it was hard to believe that only three weeks ago black smoke was billowing over the beach as a fire in the hotel lobby caused US$35 million worth of damage. Builders were forced to work around the clock to replace a 43-metre dome in the lobby, but guests seemed unaware of the drama.
Paul and Lindsay Cutting had flown in from London that morning and were staying four nights. “So far, I have to say it is very good,” said Mrs Cutting. “We saw it advertised and thought it would be a great opportunity to stay here on its opening.”
The couple had just been enjoying breakfast at the hotel. “Everything was so fresh and the staff and the service were excellent. So far, it meets the five-star expectations,” she added.
Giorgio Locatelli, the two-star Michelin chef, was preparing the first dish of the day – spaghetti with pepper, garlic oil and chili – in his restaurant, Ronda Locatelli. “I’ve been involved in this for the past two and half years and it’s great that we are now open,” he said.
The resort’s official opening will take place on Nov 20, when 2,000 guests will hear the Australian pop star Kylie Minogue make her debut in the Middle East at a gala beach party.