Former Deyaar real estate boss jailed for Dh56m theft and fraud

Zack Shahin has been sentenced to 15 years. Courtesy Save Zack Shahin

DUBAI // The former chief executive of a large real estate development company and three others were each sentenced to 15 years in prison on Sunday for theft and fraud valued at more than Dh56 million in relation to a land deal in 2007.

Zack Shahin, the former boss of Deyaar who was present in court, and the others, who were sentenced in their absence, were found guilty by Dubai Criminal Court, which fined them Dh56m and ordered them to pay back the same amount to the Dubai property company.

The American businessman, 56, and eight other men including three former Deyaar executives, denied deceiving the company into paying an inflated price for a plot of land in Houston, Texas, on November 4 2007, and embezzling Dh56.3m from the deal.

Shahin forged a report about the plot and submitted it to Deyaar. He had conspired with the three others, who are all American and worked for Elegant Development Group, which owned the plot.

The three Americans are still at large and an arrest warrant has been out for them since 2012.

Shahin was also convicted of facilitating an unjustified financial gain of US$14m (Dh51.42m) to one of the Americans, for his role in selling the plot, and for facilitating a gain of $3.33m to two American companies.

On July 30, 2012, Dubai prosecutors submitted original documents which included details of activity in December 2007 in two escrow accounts. These holding accounts were where the money for the plot was deposited.

The documents included a report issued by the Dubai Financial Audit Department.

Shahin was arrested and jailed in 2008 during an investigation into financial irregularities while he was head of Deyaar. He went on hunger strike on May 14, 2012, and was released in July that year on Dh5m bail. He tried to flee the country but was arrested in Yemen and brought back to be detained in the UAE.

On Sunday he was found guilty, with the three Americans, who were sentenced for aiding and abetting. He will be deported after serving his term.

Five other men charged with aiding and abetting – an Indian, a Pakistani, a Lebanese national, a Malaysian and an Australian – were found not guilty.