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Waqar Siddique, a former executive of the defunct Abraaj Group, has reached a settlement with Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) over his involvement in certain wrongdoings at the private equity firm.
The regulator has imposed a fine of 4.22 million dirhams ($1.15 million) on Siddique, the former chief operating officer, and he has been "prohibited and restricted from performing any function in or from the DIFC," a DFSA statement said on Wednesday.
As a result of the settlement with the DFSA reached on October 14, Siddique agreed to not contest the DFSA’s findings. The settlement included arrangements to secure payment to the DFSA, despite Siddique not being a resident in the UAE for a number of years.
In January this year, the DFSA imposed an AED 497.86 million fine on Arif Naqvi, the founder of Abraaj Group. Last year, Ashish Dave, the former CEO, was handed a AED 6.2 million fine by the regulator for his part in the scandal.
Abraaj, set up in 2002, was the Middle East's biggest private equity fund with stakes in health care, energy, and real estate.
It was forced into liquidation in June 2020 after investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, investigated an alleged mismanagement of money in its healthcare fund.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
