A Saudi investor who brought a fraudulent misrepresentation claim against Khalid Affara’s Arab Investments Ltd (AIL) has himself become embroiled in allegations of forgery and blackmail. This follows the dissemination in
The allegations were made during a hearing before Deputy High Court Judge Nicholas Strauss QC, whose judgment last month giving the go-ahead to the fraudulent misrepresentation case against AIL is at the centre of the accusations.
In the main proceedings, Saudi lawyer Dr Abdelrahman Abbar claims that, in 2007, he and his son invested £500,000 in the 945ft Pinnacle tower on Bishopsgate, London EC2, which was to be put towards the £270m cost of buying and preparing the site. He claims that the site was to be sold within 12 to 18 months, at which point he expected a return on his investment.
Following last month’s judgment against AIL, a “radically altered” version was sent by Dr Abbar to Saudi Economic & Development Co (SEDCO) and to media outlets in Saudi Arabia, including Arab News.
The judgment had allegedly been altered to suggest, among other things, that the judge had made a finding of fraud against AIL’s fellow defendant, SEDCO.
Dr Abbar allegedly warned SEDCO that “the media will have a field day” and that SEDCO chairman Saleh bin Mahfouz could be arrested.
Dr Abbar claims not to have known that the judgment had been altered.
Issuing an injunction restraining Dr Abbar from further disseminating the forged judgment, the judge said there was “strong prima facie evidence that [Dr Abbar] has used a doctored version of the judgment to seek to blackmail SEDCO into settling the claim”.
The judge declined to make further orders on the grounds that Dr Abbar had not been informed of the application against him and had been unable to give instructions to lawyers representing him in the claim.
Dr Abbar’s lawyer has undertaken to provide further evidence as to how the judgment had been transmitted to its client.
A spokesman for AIL said: “We are very concerned about what the judge said in the hearings last week and our solicitor has written to seek clarification of the matters concerning potential fraud, blackmail and criminal contempt referred to in his comments.
“Both Dr Abbar and his solicitor Newtons have been asked to explain what has occurred in an affadavit to the court, which will then be considered at the adjourned hearing to be held on 30 September.”
