UK citizen Mohamed El Haddad is suing 10 of Dubai’s most eminent figures after being robbed of his share of a multimillion dollar partnership.
A £1 billion claim has been filed in the High Court of England against a coterie of Dubai elites by a British national who was forcibly dispossessed of his 50% share in a massive business partnership. Dr. Mohamed El Haddad was a 50/50 partner Of KMI, encompassing some 17 companies in the UK, Saudi Arabia and UAE, under a UK partnership agreement.
Dr Haddad’s personal relationship with his partner Khulood Rostamani deteriorated.
During one of Dr Haddad’s trips, a series of civil complaints were lodged against him by Rostamani, and the subsequent hearings were characterised by gross misconduct and violations of due process that paint a picture of a legal system in complete collusion with the UAE’s richest and most influential individuals. Haddad launched the lawsuit to call to account some of Dubai’s most influential people, all of whom he claims, collaborated in a series of fraudulent cases against him.
“In Mohamed Haddad’s case, we can say that the formal system conspired with the informal system of power in the UAE,” explains Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai and Due Process International, “There are layers of power and influence in the Emirates, from the royals to prestigious tribes to wealthy business families, all of whom enjoy considerable advantages. When any of these people become involved in legal cases, the process is perverted in their favour. In Haddad’s case, this favouritism took form in some of the most outrageous examples of judicial misconduct I have ever seen in over 12 years working with clients in the UAE.”
Stirling relates that Detained in Dubai has encountered multiple instances of extrajudicial influence swaying legal cases in the UAE over the years, but says the Haddad case is unique.
“We have never seen such a sheer volume of instances of misconduct and legal abuse in a single case, and such blatant bias, while also being so thoroughly evidenced,” She explains.
Haddad’s claim names 10 defendants, including 7 members of the Rostamani family, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifah bin Saeed Al Maktoum (a member of Dubai’s ruling family), and Habib Al Mulla, a close friend and advisor to Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and chairman of international law firm Baker Mckenzie. He cites a litany of instances of wrongdoing by prosecutors, judges, and lawyers throughout the legal proceedings against him, all to ensure false convictions to prevent Haddad from ever recovering his share of KMI.
“It is clear that Mohammed Haddad cannot pursue justice in the UAE,” Stirling says, “The Rostamanis are an eminent family in Dubai, one of the richest merchant families in the region; they wield both economic and political power that simply cannot be checked. Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifah is the first cousin of the Ruler of Dubai and head of the Dubai Land Department. Habib Al Mulla was named by Arabian Business Journal as one of the most powerful Arabs in the world in 2019. No judge in the UAE would ever hear this case impartially; we have already seen such gross bias in the courts dealing with Haddad that no further proof is needed to support the request for UK jurisdiction. ” of the Dubai Land Department. Habib Al Mulla was named by Arabian Business Journal as one of the most powerful Arabs in the world in 2019. No judge in the UAE would ever hear this case impartially; we have already seen such gross bias in the courts dealing with Haddad that no further proof is needed to support the request for UK jurisdiction. ”
The High Court has given leave to serve the defendants outside of the jurisdiction, Stirling said, she is certain the case will proceed in the UK. “The partnership agreement between Haddad and Rostamani was established in the UK, and explicitly stipulates the UK as the governing jurisdiction. There is no court more suitable than the High Court of England for the pursuit of justice for Mohamed Haddad.”
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