Limitless drops its case against executive over apartment award

Limitless, a property developer owned by Dubai World, has dropped court claims against one of its top executives for Dh9.46 million (US$2.5m) that was allegedly owed to the company.

The developer had sought to sue Abdulla Al Janahi, the executive director of corporate operations at Limitless, for alleged partial payment on an apartment block on land previously awarded to him as a bonus in 2004.

Limitless had claimed it was owed money for construction costs of the building on the plot of land, but yesterday dropped the claim against Mr Al Janahi.

"The case has been discontinued, and Limitless has no further comment," Limitless said. Mr Al Janahi's lawyers declined to comment.

The case was being heard at the Dubai World Tribunal, which was set up in the wake of Dubai World's $24.9 billion debt restructuring to mediate on disputes between the conglomerate's subsidiaries and its customers, employees and other stakeholders.

Mr Al Janahi was given the plot of land in International City, an 8 million square metre development of residential, commercial and retail buildings, following an order by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to reward Dubai World employees who had "displayed exceptional service", according to the original Limitless claim filed at the Dubai World Tribunal.

A total of 28 Dubai World employees were either given a bare plot of land or land with buildings to be constructed on them "due to length of service and/or their performance and contribution", the claim said.

But difficulties began to arise in 2006 when some of the employees approached Sultan bin Sulayem, then the chairman of Dubai World, and said they wanted to convert plots of land into income-generating assets.

Mr bin Sulayem subsequently arranged for the construction of apartment buildings on the plots given to employees "on the basis that [Limitless] would be reimbursed for the costs it would incur in arranging and managing such construction", the Limitless claim said.

The developer maintained until yesterday it "repeatedly asked" Mr Al Janahi to pay the Dh10m for construction costs, but payment terms had consistently been rejected.

It was not clear yesterday whether the two parties had reached an out of court settlement or whether Limitless had simply abandoned the case. The company had also filed cases with the Tribunal against four other Dubai World employees over the plots, which have also been dropped.