Abdullah Brothers Banned in Latest Damas Scandal
March 21, 10
Damas Ex-CEO Tawhid Abdullah
(above) and his brothers Tawfique
and Tamjid are banned from the
board of any DIFC company
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has banned the three Abdullah brothers, the family at the heart of the Damas retail empire, from the board of any DIFC company for 10 years after they were found to have withdrawn Damas funds for their own personal use without disclosing it to the board, according to a report published Sunday by Arabian Business.
The brothers, Tawhid, Tawfique and Tamjid Abdullah, will be fined a total of $3 million. The brothers owed approximately AED365 million ($99.4m) plus the value of approximately 1.94 tons of gold to Damas, regulators told Arabian Business in an e-mailed statement. The firm was also fined a total of $700,000.
The Abdullah brothers have agreed to repay the money owed to Damas and are reportedly considering selling personal assets to raise funds, including the sale of their yacht.
Damas has been trying to revive investor confidence and its financial strength after a series of “unauthorized transactions” of about $165 million last year. Former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Tawhid Abdullah resigned after the company reported the unauthorized transactions.
The company never disclosed details about the unauthorized transactions, however market sources close to the company said they included large real estate investments in
Damas operates about 450 stores across the