lender Tamweel’s deputy CEO detained
By ADAM SCHRECK 09.09.08, 11:24 AM ET
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates –
The detention of Abdulla Nasser Abdulla, who also heads the four-year-old finance company’s real estate investment and brokerage services subsidiary, comes amid a widening probe of corporate corruption in this booming Persian Gulf city-state.
Tamweel made the disclosure in two letters – one signed by the company’s chairman, the other by its chief executive – filed with the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday. It wasn’t clear when the arrest happened.
The company pledged cooperation with the authorities but did not provide additional details, saying it did not want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. A spokeswoman declined to comment further.
Dubai’s widely publicized anti-graft probe comes as the emirate seeks to establish itself as a business-friendly 21st Century financial hub linking Europe and the Far East. The city-state is eager to burnish its transparency credentials so it can better compete for clout and corporate offices against rising business centers in India and China as well as in its own backyard.
Last month, Dubai’s public prosecutor vowed to take “strict and prompt action” against corruption and bribery “wherever they occur in the emirate, whether in the public or private sectors.” The government said at the time that fighting corruption is one of its top priorities.
Tamweel specializes in mortgages that comply with sharia
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