Atlas Jewellery owner in jail because of Dh53m in bad cheques: Dubai Police

Dubai Police has confirmed that a prominent Indian jeweller with business in the UAE was arrested well over a month ago.

The owner of the group, reported by the Reuters news agency to be Atlas Jewellery, along with his daughter are currently in the custody of Dubai Police in the Bur Dubai police station.

A source at the station told Emirates 24|7 that cases related to bounced cheques worth Dh53 million have been filed against the arrested businessman.

The source also confirmed that his daughter has been arrested for cases related to credit card payments and rental cheques.

Read: Dubai Police arrest Atlas Jewellery owner, daughter

The jewellery group has 18 stores across the UAE.

The gold and jewellery retailer has defaulted on loans worth about Dh500 million ($136.2 million), with banks considering options including legal action to retrieve the money, four banking and trade sources told Reuters.

Local media reports quoting officials from the Dubai Gold and Diamond Jewellery Group, of which the affected jeweller is a member, said it is willing to intervene to find a solution.

A spokesperson of Dubai Gold and Diamond Jewellery Group told Emirates 24|7 that a board meeting was held on Sunday, but the case of the affected jeweller was not discussed in the meeting.

“We discussed routine issues. The jeweller, who is a member of the board, was however not present. Neither did anybody else from his company represent him,” the spokesperson said.

When asked if the group would intervene in anyway, he said, “All that we can do is try and negotiate with the banks for an additional grace period. Beyond that, we cannot do much,” he said.

According to Al Khaleeej, an Arabic newspaper, the jewellery chain owner’s daughter, who manages an insurance company affiliated to her father’s group, was also arrested after police received at least 15 complaints against her of bounced cheques worth several million dirhams.

The businessman has been a UAE resident for about 25 years.

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