Dubai Court Jails Rahamaniyya Oil Boss Abdulrahman Bashar for Financial Fraud
A Dubai court has sentenced Abdulrahman Bashar, the owner of Rahamaniyya Group and Ultimate Oil & Gas, to one year in prison for financial misconduct involving his dealings with CI Energy Company, Premium Times reports.
The ruling, delivered on January 30, 2025, marks the second time in less than five years that Bashar has been convicted and sentenced for financial infractions. This follows a ten-month imprisonment ordered by a UK court in 2020.
According to court documents, the UAE court found Bashar guilty of issuing seven cheques worth a total of 126.45 million dirhams from an Emirates Islamic Bank account with a mismatched signature. The court ruled that his actions were deliberate and intended to prevent the cheques from being cashed.
The Dubai court, presided over by Judge Hussein Hamdi, found Bashar guilty based on evidence presented, including statements from Jamal Awad Nasser Hussein, an agent of CI Energy, as well as duplicates of the cheques and account statements.
“It is established that the crime of issuing a cheque is realized merely by giving the cheque to the beneficiary, knowing that there is no available balance for withdrawal,” the court ruled.
The judge further criticized the defense’s attempt to discredit the evidence, describing it as an effort to mislead the court.
“The defense attempted to question the evidence presented as a ploy to convince the court to disregard it, but the accused’s denial of the charge was merely an attempt to evade punishment,” the ruling stated.
To ensure swift justice, the court referred the civil case for compensation to a competent civil court for further proceedings.
This is not the first time Bashar has been convicted of financial misconduct. In February 2020, the England and Wales High Court sentenced him to ten months in jail for violating multiple court orders in a case filed by Sahara Energy Resources.
“The basis of the sentence was that Mr. Bashar had committed continuing breaches of the order of Mr. Justice Robin Knowles of August 1, 2019, and the order of Mr. Justice Bryan of September 6, 2019,” Justice Butcher ruled.
The orders required Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas to release 6,400.49 metric tonnes of gas oil to Sahara Energy Resources, which Bashar failed to comply with.
As part of the ruling, Rahamaniyya was fined £500,000, while the company’s manager, Adebowale Aderemi, was fined £10,000.
Bashar, 48, is the chairman of Ultimate Oil and Gas DMCC and CEO of Rahamaniyya Group of Companies. His businesses operate across Africa, Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East, specializing in oil and gas trading, supply, and distribution.
According to his company’s website, he is regarded as a major player in the African oil and gas sector. However, his repeated convictions for financial crimes raise serious concerns about the integrity of his business dealings.
