In what he described as a pressure tactic to threaten his reputation and business, the founder of Rahmaniya Group, Abdulrahman Bashar, has vowed to challenge a judgement given against him by a Dubai court.
A Dubai court had sentenced Abdulrahman, a billionaire Nigerian oil tycoon to one year in prison for an alleged financial crime involving his dealings with CE Energy Company, an oil and gas firm.
Abdulrahman, in a statement issued Monday, 10 February, 2025 said he was working with the global law firm, HFW, to overturn the judgment delivered on Thursday, January 30, 2025, which he claimed he wasn’t given a fair hearing.
“We refer to the criminal proceedings and recent judgment issued in the criminal courts against Mr. Bashar on 30 January 2025. First and foremost, Mr. Bashar rejects any allegations of criminality.
“There are several ongoing civil disputes between CEE and Mr. Bashar. The criminal proceedings have, in our view, been filed against Mr. Bashar as a pressure tactic in the context of the commercial proceedings, to threaten Mr. Bashar’s reputation and business.
“Mr. Bashar will take all available steps available to him to challenge the judgment,” he said.
The oil tycoon alleged that CEE had used similar heavy-handed litigation tactics in the commercial proceedings, including seeking a Worldwide Freezing Order (WFO) from the English court against him.
According to him, the WFO was successfully challenged and discharged. CEE’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was also rejected. The English court recognized the futility of CEE’s tactics.
Abdulrahman expressed optimism that the judgment would be overturned once the defense is considered.
