Defence lawyer Habib Al Mulla, representing the fifth defendant in the $501 million (Dh1.84 billion) Dubai Islamic Bank fraud case, yesterday filed a civil lawsuit against the DIB.

Because of the change in the judicial body hearing the case, the court adjourned it to May 17.

In a previous session, the defence presented memos asking for the acquittal of the seven defendants, while the Public Prosecution representative asked for time to study the memos.

The seven accused are: AI (Turkish), CM (British), RL (British), RO (Pakistani), OM (Pakistani), ZO (American) and AF (British). OM was the DIB former finance manager, while RO was his deputy. The rest are businessmen.

According to the Public Prosecution, the businessmen fabricated finance operations supported by falsified documents to get the $501m in collaboration with OM and RO.

The court again turned down the defence request to release the defendants, despite the fact that some are old and have been in detention for over one year.

In a previous session, the court listened to a report by Mohammed Mustafa Hussein, expert of the Financial Audit Department of Dubai Ruler's Office, who alleged new corruption by OM and RO and the other defendants that caused the bank to lose Dh65m for a villa and a plot of land.