Defendant pleads not guilty in Deyaar bribe case

A former board member with the property developer Deyaar yesterday pleaded not guilty to accepting a Dh11.75 million (US$3.2m) bribe in a property transaction.

SA, 40, a UAE national, who appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance, also denied a charge of dealing in Dh16m worth of illegal interest payments with a second defendant, IJ, 43, an Emirati businessman. IJ failed to appear before the court.

According to the bill of indictment and witness statements, S A masterminded a deal worth Dh415.8m involving the purchase and resale in September 2007 of a plot of land in Dubai Marina that had belonged to the Dubai Ruler’s Architectural Office.