Dubai jeweller Damas says founders owe $167 mln

Dubai jeweller Damas says founders owe $167 mln

Says Abdullah brothers agree on $167 mln total debt.

October 29, 2010 9:01 by Reuters

Dubai-based jeweller Damas International said it agreed with its founders, the Abdullah brothers, that they owe the company a total of 614 million dirhams ($167.2 million) in cash and gold.

The amount includes 256 million dirhams worth of gold that the three brothers had withdrawn from the company, the company said in a statement on Nasdaq Dubai’s website. “The price of gold has been fixed after evaluation of several factors including the price of gold prevailing at the time of withdrawal and certain benchmark transactions that have taken place in the records of Damas thereafter,” Damas said in the statement.

In march, Dubai’s regulator said the three — whom it named as Tawhid, Tawfique and Tamjid Abdullah — owed the company cash plus the value of 1.94 tonnes of gold. It also ordered the jeweller to dismiss its board and pay penalties after an enquiry found irregularities.

In addition to the gold, the Abdullah brothers owe Damas 358 million dirhams in cash, according to Thursday’s statement.

Both parties have also agreed to extend payment date for the amount of 400 million dirhams to Damas to be extended to January 31, 2011 from October 31, 2010.

(Reporting by Nicolas Parasie; editing by Firouz Sedarat)