Dubai exec slapped with 5-yr jail term

DUBAI - An Istithmar World executive has been jailed for five years and fined close to 10 million dirhams ($2.72 million) for embezzling $1.34 million, the stiffest jail term yet handed down it the government’s ongoing corruption crackdown, UAE daily the National reported on Wednesday.

The British national, identified only as C.T., was found guilty on Tuesday of buying stocks for Istithmar from a UK brokerage firm he owned and keeping a portion of the funds, the newspaper reported.

Istithmar is an investment company owned by conglomerate Dubai World.

C.T. was head of the risk assessment department at Istithmar and had been tasked with combating and preventing fraud within the company, the paper reported.

“Our investigations revealed that C.T. transferred $1.3 million to his account after the agreements were done,” Abdel Wahid Abdel Rahman, a Dubai World board member was quoted as telling the court.

“Furthermore, we found out that the company in the UK belonged to him and he was its managing director.”

C.T. has two weeks to appeal the verdict, the paper added.