Investors of Dubai-based Exential trading scheme may be able to recover lost funds, lawyers say

Legal experts say investors have a chance to reclaim their money if they get a favourable court judgement and assets can be located.

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DUBAI // The big question many investors who plundered savings accounts, credit cards and bank loans to pile money into what they thought were foreign exchange trading accounts run by Exential Tadawul are asking is: will I get my money back?

Legal experts claim the answer is yes – if investors have a favourable court judgment and can locate assets to satisfy the financial claim.

Investors are likely to win a civil case if they have proof of a deposit; a contract stating Exential has an obligation to return money; they terminated the investment and demanded payment and no refund was made.

Once the court ruling is at the execution stage, investors can call on police and government authorities to help recover their funds through seizure of assets owned by Exential and its board of directors.

Barney Almazar, a director of Gulf Law, said: “If someone has left the UAE and is claiming for just one account, it may not be practical. If someone has several accounts, it is worth doing.”

Details can be submitted through the UAE Embassy in that person’s home country, where it will be sent to the UAE and translated into Arabic to be submitted to authorities.

“Once someone has been appointed to act on the investors’ behalf, either a lawyer or executor, they can file a case on their behalf in Dubai,” Mr Almazar said.

“Documents must first be notarised in their own country before it can be presented to the court in Dubai.”

Costs should be no more than about Dh750 to file a case from the Philippines, for example.

nwebster@thenational.ae