A former director of a United Arab Emirates trader is battling to avoid a year in jail over a $800,000 dispute following a ship arrest in 2016, according to court papers.
An English court last year ordered ex-general manager Essa Abdullah Ahmad Al Ghurair to serve a year in prison for contempt of court after Al Ghurair Resources (AGR) failed to pay damages or reveal details of its assets.
The dispute was linked to losses suffered by Jaldhi Mideast, a Dubai-based shipping subsidiary of India’s Bothra Group, following the arrest of the 9,200-dwt Captain Silver (built 2008). The small chemical/product tanker is now known as Weda Pioneer under new ownership.
Jaldhi secured the ship on a three-month time charter before sub-chartering it to AGR for a single voyage from the UAE to India with a cargo of rapeseed oil, according to documents.
The ship was subsequently arrested in Malaysia because of a bill of lading dispute with Dutch bank Rabobank, and AGR failed to provide the security to secure its release, according to claim documents.
Proceedings were started in the case in February 2017 resulting in a breach of contract judgment in favour of Jaldhi.
Al Ghurair accepted the judgment made against the company in 2019 but said he could not pay the money because the signatures of two of his brothers were also needed and they were not cooperating, the documents suggest.
Jaldhi’s owner, Vira Chand Bothra, met Al Ghurair in Dubai in June last year, when the businessman said he was keen to pay the debt but was being hampered by his brothers.
Al Ghurair failed to show up at a hearing the following month when the jail sentence was imposed for contempt.
“The fine has not been paid, Mr Al Ghurair has not served his prison sentence and no disclosure of AGR’s assets has been given,” said London Commercial Court judge Christopher Hancock.
Al Ghurair apologised when he appeared via video link before the court in May this year as he sought to have the contempt ruling kicked out.
He claimed that he did not have the authority to act for the company after late 2016, when he was sidelined in a reshuffle.
However, the judge ruled he had not done enough to justify a reduction in his prison sentence but said it “may well be possible” in the future.
Al Ghurair's UK-based solicitor has been approached for comment.
