Dubai, August 24: The owner of Abed Al Boom Management and Development Properties, Abed Al Boom, was on Sunday granted bail by the Dubai Civil Court, but with a rider that if he misses a hearing he would face a penalty of Dh500,000.
The court also granted bail to other defendants and ordered them to hand over their passports and a guarantee deposit of Dh100,000 each.
In the bail application moved on Sunday, Al Boom’s counsel Salem Al Sha’ali pleaded that his client be released on bail because the court had not reached a verdict in 14 months.
He pointed out that it was not fair to hold the man for such a long period.
Al Boom has been ordered to deposit the passports of his spouse, children and five guarantors. Al Sha’ali also pleaded that the court waive Dh40,000, the cost of photocopies of Al Boom investment portfolio and other documents, because his assets had been frozen. The court has yet to take decision on the request.
Al Boom and seven others, including three women, are facing charges of cheating more than 3,500 depositors to the tune of Dh847 million and issuing a dud cheque. All of them have pleaded not guilty.
One of the lawyers requested the court to reconsider the charges as his client was not aware that he was part of any fraudulent operations because he had been working for the company for just about a year.
The counsel for another defendant pointed out that his client had been employed for only four months, and that too at a low level. One of the women defendants told the court said she and two other women played minor roles in the company and what they did was under Abed Al Boom’s orders.
While claiming that they had not profited from any allegedly fraudulent dealings, she requested the court to provide them a lawyer as they could not afford one.
–Agencies