Bank investment chief testifies in fraud trial

The chief executive officer of investment banking at Dubai Islamic Bank told a court yesterday that two defendants in a US$501 million (Dh1.8 billion) fraud trial were the bank executives responsible for facilitating credit allowances for a company that defaulted on its loans.

Saad Zaman, 42, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance that in 2007 he was informed that CCH, a Turkish company, had defaulted on its loan instalments.

He told the court the bank was owed $170m by the company. “We found out that CCH had not used the funds provided according to the investment agreements set between us,” he said.