Win for Rakia as UK court clears decks for Azima’s trial
ras al khaimah — The US-Iranian arms dealer Farhad Azima will face a trial in London as he failed to halt claims brought by the RAK Investment Authority (Rakia) filed at the High Court of Justice in UK.
Rakia had claimed that he tried to create dissent in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, paid bribes, took secret commissions and forged US Government documents in order to embezzle RAK public funds.
The US-Iranian arms dealer also faced a setback after a judge rejected his applications for the hearing to be heard in private and for the London case to be halted until the ‘final’ resolution of proceedings Azima brought against Rakia in the US.
The claim by Rakia, the former investment arm of the Government of Ras Al Khaimah, is based on various claims of serious misconduct. The case follows the settlement agreement he signed in March 2016. The agreement expressly required Azima to confirm that he had: “at all times acted in good faith and with the utmost professional integrity, and would continue in the future to act in good faith and with the utmost professional integrity towards Rakia, RAK Airways and any other RAK entity.”
Rakia presented the court with further evidence of Farhad Azima’s wrongdoing arising out of a joint venture between his wholly-owned entity HeavyLift and RAK Airways, the former national airline of RAK. The joint venture concerned the establishment of an aircraft simulator and training facility at the RAK International Airport.
During settlement negotiations with Rakia, Azima and those acting on his behalf repeatedly claimed that he (through HeavyLift) had invested a total of $2.68million in the training academy, including supposedly spending $1.73 million on a flight simulator. In fact, the court was told that Azima (through Heavylift) only paid $167,500 for a 40-yearold flight simulator.
The London High Court allowed Rakia’s claim to be amended to include allegations that Farhad Azima played a central role in instigating and coordinating a wide-ranging media and public relations campaign which set out to deliberately denigrate the reputation of the Ruler of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the governing authorities in RAK as well as the Emirate’s employees and advisors. As part of this campaign, Azima allegedly procured and edited a ‘Security Assessment’ on behalf of convicted fraudster Dr Khater Masaad, who at the time was a fugitive from justice.
The court heard that the proposal included various recommendations including deceiving institutions
and companies in RAK into entering commercial transactions with hardened criminals as well as inciting “protests and other forms of manufactured dissent” in the emirate.
Azima will also have to pay Rakia’s costs (estimated to be £150,000) relating to the applications before the court in London, with £50,000 payable within 28 days.
David Hughes, a partner at Stewarts Law LLP, said: “My client Rakia is delighted with this result which provides further judicial support to the RAK government’s quest and determination to recover monies from Farhad Azima. Rakia will continue to pursue Azima in the English courts, as well as his co-conspirators in jurisdictions around the globe.
My client Rakia is delighted with this result which provides further judicial support to the RAK government’s quest and determination to recover monies from Farhad Azima. Rakia looks forward to the high court trial next year.”
David Hughes, partner, Stewarts Law LLP
“It does not stop here. Rakia looks forward to the high court trial next year where it will prove beyond all doubt that Farhad Azima engaged in a systematic course of deception and unlawful conduct over many years. This is drawn from material widely available on the internet of which we have been given notice.”