Court case over Abraaj founder's bounced check adjourned again

[July 11, 2018]  DUBAI (Reuters) - A court case involving the founder of private equity firm Abraaj, Arif Naqvi, and another executive for issuing a check without sufficient funds was adjourned again until July 15, the judge said on Wednesday.

Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

The case relates to a check for 177.1 million dirhams ($48 million), signed by Naqvi and a fellow executive, and written to Hamid Jafar, another founding shareholder in Dubai-based Abraaj, a prosecution document showed.

The case in a Sharjah court had already been adjourned last week until Wednesday. Habib al-Mulla, the lawyer representing Naqvi, told Reuters last week that a settlement might be agreed.

On Wednesday, two sources involved in the case said the claimant, Hamid Jafar, is expected to drop the case against Naqvi and his colleague.

One of the sources said the two parties were close to a settlement, the other did not comment on a possible settlement.

They declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Sharjah is one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates.

The court case in Sharjah is another challenge for the founder of Abraaj, which is battling allegations that it misused investor money in a healthcare fund. The firm has denied these allegations.

Naqvi is the single biggest shareholder of Abraaj Holdings which owns the investment management business, which is partly being sold to U.S. buyout firm Colony Capital.

Abraaj, the Middle East and North Africa's biggest private equity firm, has filed for provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands.

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Tom Arnold; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous and Susan Fenton)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.