A London born property tycoon, who bought the Great Britain island in Dubai’s controversial archipelago ‘The World’, has been jailed for seven years after signing a bounced cheque of £50 million to complete property deals.
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Safi Qurashi, originally from Balham in South London, is being held in Dubai’s central prison where his wife and children are allowed to visit him once a week. He was convicted last month after signing a bounced cheque and for cancelling a cheque. Cheque fraud laws in Dubai have become increasingly vigilant after the country saw its property market collapse spectacularly earlier this year.
However, Qurashi – who rose to fame in 2008 after being interviewed by Piers Morgan for a documentary about his purchase of the Great Britain island for £43 million – argues that the money was not owed and the cheques were presented after the property deal had been completed.
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained In Dubai, a British-based pressure group that fights injustices in the United Arab Emirates, is backing Qurashi's claims that he has been jailed by a dogmatic court which failed to take his circumstances into account.
She told the Guardian newspaper: "Security cheques are commonly used in Dubai in business and private agreements as collateral. The law states that bouncing a cheque is illegal and can be punished with a sentence of three years in prison. But the legal system in Dubai does not take into account any circumstances or evidence surrounding the bounced cheques, leaving the law open to abuse or misuse."
Qurashi, 41, a second generation British Asian, was born to a Pakistani-born travel agent. He set up one of the first internet cafes in Soho before moving to Dubai in 2004. In 2008 his company, Premier Real Estate Bureau, turned over £400 million and employed 80 staff.
A friend of his said: “The cheques were cashed by an investor … The cheques were a security deposit and should never have been cashed because Safi did not owe him money.”
Qurashi is appealing the decision and is due to appear in court next month.
Dubai’s archipelago was launched in 2003 and has since accrued $10.5 billion of bank debt. So far few of the islands have been developed and the complex has been hailed an environmental catastrophe by scientists worldwide.
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