Dubai firm threatens suit over 'fake sheikh' reports
By Shane McGinley
Wednesday, 4 July 2012 8:42 AM
Dubai-based Royal Emirates, which is chaired by a member of the ruling Al Maktoum family and last year paid around US$100m to buy Spanish football club Getafe, is considering legal action against media outlets which published stories linking it to a fraudulent scheme to swindle the club, a senior executive at the firm told Arabian Business.
Media outlets last month reported that Spanish police had unmasked a gang of alleged fraudsters posing as representatives of Arab sheikhs, who promised millions of euros of investment or loans to victims that included Spanish football club Getafe.
Six Spaniards and a man from the Dominican Republic have been taken into custody as part of 'Operation Flame' and the group are accused of crimes including fraud and embezzlement, police in the Catalan capital Barcelona said in a statement.
Dubai’s Royal Emirates agreed last year to buy the Madrid-based La Liga football club for around US$100m and some Spanish newspapers and websites accompanied the story with images of Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, chairman of Royal Emirates, at the press conference in Dubai announcing the deal.
Royal Emirates’ managing director Kaiser Rafiq last week told Arabian Business the firm had no knowledge of the alleged scam and he was now working with the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Spanish Embassy in the UAE to order media in Spain to publish retractions or face legal action.
“We are taking up this matter aggressively… Furthermore, we have all the tracking of such media and if they do not re-publish the facts, we will take legal actions against all,” Rafiq said.
In a letter to Royal Emirates, Jose Eugenio Salarich, Ambassador of Spain to the UAE, said “the Foreign Affairs Ministry has already contacted with most of the journalists responsible for the misleading articles published and are already correcting their entries.”
Rafiq also hit out at Barcelona police for their handling of the case: “Barcelona Police Officials are still not providing us their official statement because they know very well that they have mislead the media by stating that these fraudsters in the name of Arab Sheikh swindled the Getafe.”.
“They know very well that Mr Angel Torres never filed any complaint with them and they never even contacted Mr. Angel Torres before giving the statement or while conducting the investigation,” he added.
The gang arrested by Barcelona police allegedly promised Getafe president Angel Torres a cash injection of €10m as long as the La Liga club maintained their top-flight status and were debt-free.
In return, the club was required to transfer funds as a guarantee of solvency to an account controlled by the alleged fraudsters, but Torres broke off contact with the group when two cheques they had written bounced, Reuters reported.
One Spanish newspaper also claimed the gang held meetings in luxurious hotels in Barcelona which were attended by a false Arab sheikh, who it claimed was in fact a Brazilian waiter who was paid €50 to dress up as a sheikh.
Rafiq also confirmed that Royal Emirates had been given confirmation by Torres that he had not lodged any complaint with Barcelona police and the club had not suffered any financial loss as a result of the attempted swindle.
In an interview with Arabian Business last year, Rafiq said Royal Emirates planned invest up to US$130m in the team over a five-year period.
“We have a big investment we are looking to put into it [and] in the players,” he said in April 2011.
When pushed as to the size of the investment, Rafiq said he “wouldn’t hesitate” to match the purchase price, which was put at between €70m and €90m ($100-130m).
“[We tell] the players the team will get stronger with our support.”
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