Car Parks Update - March 2018

Whilst things have been taking a lot longer than hoped they are moving in the correct direction.  There have been legal actions on two fronts, in the UAE and in the UK. The following is an update on these two separate actions:

UAE
Prior to Christmas the case was moved to a new part of the courts that only deals with financial crime. This was a result of the banks in the UAE supplying specific information that showed that Mr Karim was the ultimate recipient of the funds. The court move is a benefit to investors due to the severity of the punishments this court can issue.  

The Bank has now been requested to provide further information to trace the funds flow from the initial account into which the funds were paid. Once the data is received then the next stage of the action in the UAE can start and this time the “teeth” of the court are far more pointed. If it is possible to demonstrate money laundering, this offence carries a very high penalty in the UAE. The information requested from the banks is due back to the courts during Q2 of 2018.

During this time, the passports of Mr Karim and other connected parties have been held by the police and the assets of the connected companies have been locked down to prevent property assets being sold and monies dissipated.

UK
As you are aware, at the start of this process, the UK asset holding companies were put into administration by the UK director, with the support of the bond security trustee. The assets held by these UK companies were therefore within the control of the administrators, PKF.  There have been a number of challenges to this appointment and in early February 2018 there was a “significant” legal attempt to remove the administrators and take the assets back. We are pleased to report that the court supported the current administrators and the process they are running.   The UK administrators will now start selling the UK assets in order to convert the assets into cash.

Both legal processes are inherently protracted and we understand that this delay will cause significant frustration for interested parties. Please be assured that we are working to keep investors fully up to date with any information that is available.