Agony for family of ex-soccer chief
Sister speaks out on first anniversary
DUBAI: The sister of ex-Leeds United managing director David Haigh has told of the “devastating effect” her brother’s year spent in a jail cell in the middle East has had on the family.
THE SISTER of ex-Leeds United managing director David Haigh has told of the “devastating effect” her brother’s year spent in a Dubai jail cell has had on the family.
Mr Haigh, the former deputy chief executive of Dubai-based bank GFH, has been held without charge since May 18, 2014, when he was arrested on suspicion of fraud, embezzlement and money-laundering.
GFH alleges that Mr Haigh, who protests his innocence and claims he was lured to Dubai under false pretences, defrauded it of £3m by falsifying invoices and diverted money into accounts controlled by him. His case suffered a blow last week when the Dubai courts refused to release funds from his frozen bank account to pay his legal team, meaning he has no representation.
His sister, Ali Thomas, 40, who lives in Cornwall, has quit her job as a language teacher as the strain meant she could not focus on her career. The mother-of-three said the loss of his lawyers in a country where legal proceedings are carried out in Arabic was “heartbreaking”.
Mrs Thomas said the last time she saw Mr Haigh was on May 17, 2014, when she went to see him in London while on a work course.
She said: “He told me he was packing to go to Dubai to discuss a new job with his former employers. As I was travelling back to Cornwall he was flying out to Dubai and that was the last time I saw him.
“The effect on the family has been devastating. To have to watch someone you love hurting and not be able to do anything about it is horrible. The children are heartbroken; they think the world of him and really miss him.”
Mrs Thomas, whose 11-yearold daughter has a potentially fatal illness meaning she cannot process protein, plans to write to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emir of Dubai, about her brother’s situation. She also intends to contact her new MP Derek Thomas and Prime Minister David Cameron for help.
She said: “Because all his money has been frozen his lawyers have now stopped representing him – even though they believe in his case and his fight for justice. He is now trapped in a foreign legal system, where court proceedings are in Arabic, without any legal representation. This terrifies me. The British Government has not been able to do anything, despite what is clearly a huge breach of his human rights.”
Mr Haigh has lodged a counter claim against GFH, which bought Leeds United from Ken Bates in 2012, claiming he was lured to Dubai under false pretences and for unpaid salary and bonuses.
It emerged this year that Mr Haigh, who claims he is the victim of human trafficking, was applying for a private criminal prosecution against two executives from the club’s former owners. He has applied for an arrest warrant for Hisham Al Rayes of Bahrain, GFH’s chief executive officer, and Jinesh Patel, chief executive of subsidiary GFH Capital.
Last week the Dubai courts refused to release funds from his frozen bank account to pay his legal team. As a result Stephenson Harwood, the firm representing him in Dubai, will no longer act on his behalf, leaving him without representation in the Middle East. The firm, which was owed £1m in fees, will continue to work on a legal bid to remove a freezing order against him in the UK.
Mr Haigh has told friends he has “done nothing wrong”, adding: “All I want is the freedom to prove my innocence and get home to my family.”