The Founder of Rahmaniya Group, Abdulrahman Bashar, has described the recent judgment given against him by a Dubai, UAE, court as a pressure tactic to threaten his reputation and business, vowing to challenge it.
A Dubai court had on the 30th of last (January 2025) sentenced Abdulrahman to one year in prison for an alleged financial crime with regard to his dealings with an oil and gas firm, CE Energy Company.
The court gave the verdict in Abdulrahman’s absence, meaning that he did not have the opportunity to properly defend the allegations against him.
Insisting that he had not committed any crime to warrant the judgment and sentencing, Abdulrahman revealed that he has already approached a reputable law firm HFW to appeal against the judgment on his behalf.
He expressed confidence that the appeal court will overturn the judgment once his defence is considered.
“We refer to the criminal proceedings and recent judgment issued in the criminal courts against Mr. Bashar on 30 January 2025. First and foremost, Mr Bashar rejects any allegations of criminality,” Abdulrahman declared.
“There are several ongoing civil disputes between CEE and Mr. Bashar. The criminal proceedings have, in our view, been filed against Mr. Bashar as a pressure tactic in the context of the Commercial Proceedings, to threaten Mr Bashar’s reputation and business. Mr. Bashar will take all available steps available to him to challenge the judgment.”
Abdulrahman further alleged that CEE had used similar heavy-handed litigation tactics in commercial proceedings against him, including seeking a Worldwide Freezing Order (WFO) from an English Court.
He said: “The WFO was successfully challenged and discharged. CEE’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was also rejected. The English Court recognised the futility of CEE’s tactics.”
It is worthy of note that Abdulrahaman is currently doing his legal business in Nigeria and not in any prison as presumed.
