Abraaj Group founder Arif Naqvi has denied allegations cited in a Wall Street Journal report that at least $660 million (Dh2.4 billion) of investor money was moved without their knowledge into bank accounts linked to Naqvi, his family and the private equity firm.
More than $200m of the said amount flowed from these accounts to Naqvi and people closed to him, WSJ said in October 16 report citing company documents, bank statements and sources. Abraaj treasury accounts transferred these funds to Naqvi''s personal accounts at Deutsche Bank and Coutts & Company, and to companies linked to him, his family and a former assistant.
"The allegations against me are entirely false and vehemently denied. They are premised on isolated extracts from illegally obtained documents that have been taken entirely out of context," Naqvi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Naqvi said all draw-downs were properly recorded and accounted for.
"I confirm that I have neither misused nor misappropriated any Abraaj funds," the 58-year-old executive said. "There was nothing untoward about my requests for transfers of Abraaj Group funds to me or my family, or for my personal investments or obligations. In drawing down funds from Abraaj, I acted in accordance with the arrangements put in place by the Abraaj Group," Naqvi stated.
Abraaj, which managed about $14bn of assets at its peak, went into provisional liquidation earlier this year. The company started to collapse this year following allegations of misusing investor money in a healthcare fund.
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