Former Deyaar chief Zack Shahin back in UAE custody

The former Deyaar chief executive, who fled to Yemen shortly after being granted bail last July, has been returned to UAE custody.

DUBAI // The former Deyaar chief executive Zack Shahin, who fled to Yemen after being granted bail in July, is back in the custody of UAE authorities.

Dubai’s Attorney General, Essam Al Humaidan, confirmed that Mr Shahin had returned to his detention cell following his arrest by Yemeni security officers.

Mr Al Humaidan said that an international notice seeking Mr Shahin’s arrest had been issued after his escape.

He also said that UAE authorities had used standard procedures to extradite him after his capture.

Mr Shahin was arrested in 2008 during an investigation into alleged financial irregularities while he was head of Deyaar. He was jailed while awaiting trial on charges of theft and fraud involving more than Dh300 million. Last July, further charges emerged over a 2007 land deal in which he was accused of tricking a Dubai company into paying an inflated price for a plot of land in Texas.

Prosecutors claimed that he embezzled Dh56.3m from the deal.

The 52-year-old American, who denies any wrongdoing, went on hunger strike on May 14.

He was released during the first week of July on Dh5m bail, after which he absconded.

The Dubai Criminal Court yesterday referred his file in the Texas case back to prosecutors after they asked to amend his charge sheet.

His file in a separate case, of alleged corruption worth Dh110m involving Mr Shahin and a former government minister, was likewise returned to the prosecution, for new information to be added.

The next hearing was scheduled for September 18.

Three former Deyaar executives deny charges of aiding Mr Shahin, and a further two remain at large.