DUBAI - Chris Turner, a former senior executive at Dubai investment firm Istithmar World, hit back Wednesday after a judge sentenced him in absentia to five years in jail and fined him $2.6 million in total for embezzlement.
"I'm innocent of the charges and I'm not in the country," said Chris Turner, a British national, in a phone interview with Zawya Dow Jones from Europe. "I'm reviewing my legal options."
Turner was previously Istithmar's chief risk manager. The company, part of Dubai World, owns assets including New York department store Barneys.
"This is a matter for the appropriate authorities," said a spokesman at Istithmar World in an emailed statement to Zawya Dow Jones.
Dubai has been rocked over the past two years by a series of damaging corporate corruption probes involving some of its largest state-controlled companies including real-estate developers Nakheel and Dubai Properties.