Court jails al Boom for failing to provide $20m deposit

A Dubai court has ordered Abid al Boom, the chief executive of Al Boom Holdings, accused of embezzling almost Dh1 billion, to be jailed.

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DUBAI // A Dubai court has ordered an Emirati businessman accused of embezzling almost Dh1 billion to be jailed after he failed to provide proof he had paid a $20m deposit to the court treasury. Abid al Boom, the chief executive of Al Boom Holdings, was ordered to pay the cash into the court treasury account earlier this year and was today ordered to be remanded in custody after he was unable to prove that the money had been transferred. Mr al Boom, who is charged with breaching the trust of 3,700 investors and embezzling cash provided by them, was present at the Dubai Special Tribunal Court today to hear the ruling. On June 27, Advocate Ali al Falasi, one of Mr al Boom's three lawyers, presented the court with bank transfer documents stating $20m had been paid. He said the deposit could be expected by the court's treasury within 96 hours. His lawyers were ordered to return to court on August 8 after prosecutors again complained the money had still not been received. At the August 8 hearing, Mr al Boom's defence team told the court the payments had been made to the liquidation committee's account through various channels and the hearing was adjourned until today while this was investigated.

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