Dubai investment body sues former MD

The investment arm of the Dubai International Financial Centre is suing its former managing director for the return of $1.2m (€950,000, £792,000) in “unlawful” bonuses, according to court documents.

The allegations provide a rare insight into an official anti-corruption campaign and include details of the claims against Omar bin Sulaiman, the former governor of the DIFC, whose detention in March caused a scandal at the tax-free financial hub. DIFC Investments made the allegations in a defence and counterclaim to a breach of employment case brought in April by Bisher Barazi, the former managing director who resigned last December after his repeated requests for payment from the financial centre went unheeded.

In the court document, the DIFCI claims Mr Barazi conspired with Mr bin Sulaiman in early 2008 unlawfully to authorise “investment bonuses” of $1.2m and $3.3m respectively. The DIFCI claims that the bonuses were authorised after Mr Barazi misrepresented that DIFCI had made an income of Dh60m ($16.3m, €12.9m, £10.8m) in 2007. He deliberately failed to disclose financial statements showing that the investment arm had made a net loss of Dh80m that year, according to the document.