Bank's board ignored fraud, chief says
Awad Mustafa
- Last Updated: October 16. 2009 1:41AM UAE / October 15. 2009 9:41PM GMT
DUBAI // Dubai Islamic Bank’s chief executive testified in the Criminal Courts yesterday that the bank’s board of directors were “indifferent” when findings of fraud were brought to them in 2007.
Abdullah al Hamli told Judge Hamad Abdel Latif that no immediate action was taken on the allegations. Seven people are charged in the case, two of whom are former employees of the bank. All have pleaded not guilty.
“I was present when the findings of the fraud claims were presented to the board of directors,” Mr al Hamli said.
“Their reaction shocked me; they were indifferent to the findings. They did not take immediate legal action which infuriated me. They are supposed to do so when it’s an amount like US$500 million [Dh1.8bn].”
Mohammed Mustafa Hussein, the director of the financial audit department of Dubai Government, appeared for the first time yesterday in the DIB case.
The defence’s request that Mr Hussein provide the full documentation that led to his findings was granted by the court.
amustafa@thenational.ae
Please log in to post a comment
Other UAE stories
Your View
- Are you concerned with the standard of education your children receive?
- What would you like to see included in the new law on smoking?
- What can be done to ease the increasing cat population in the UAE?
- Would you hand back Dh5m if you found it in your bank account by mistake?
- What would you like to see in the new code of conduct for schools?
Most popular stories
- UAE banks’ debt woes to grow
- Education faces up to double challenge
- Police raid illegal plastic surgery clinic
- For Burj refunds, go to Dubai
- Dubai Metro's music causes disharmony
- Hunt for mother of abandoned baby
- New guide to being a better boss
- The apartheid will end when Israelis have to face its cost
- Interpol warrant for runaway fraudster
- Dubizzle hits top gear with capital site
Added: 10/20/09 08:47:00 PM
When the DIB chief admits that it was the board that ignored the fraud and the auditor says that the settlement was signed by the ex chairman of DIB, what is the purpose of keeping in custody two Pakistani bankers who worked in the front office. it is impossible to understand how, in the peresence of the full bank hierarchy, they could have engineereed a fraud of 500 million. Surely the members of the board, the management committee and the chairman had the sole authority to sanction this amount not two investment bankers who are being made scapegoats and have been chosen for selective justice that carries exemplasry punishment. Regardless of how ths is being manipulated, it just does not makie sense to blame the innocent and let the guilty go free.
(Anonymous)