Owner of Dubai's 'little Britain' jailed for non-payment of cheques

Safi Qurashi has been jailed for seven years in Dubai prison over cheques his lawyers say should not have been cashed. Above, the Balham-born developer with Piers Morgan, right, on his Great Britain in the Gulf. Photograph: Daryl Visscher/ITV
A British property tycoon hailed as one of Dubai's most successful entrepreneurs after buying a £43m island in the shape of Great Britain has been jailed for seven years for bouncing cheques and withholding payments.

Safi Qurashi, from Balham, south London, was convicted last month in the United Arab Emirates of signing cheques worth more than £50m without sufficient funds and cancelling another cheque as he moved to complete three property deals.

His imprisonment comes two years after he bought the 11-acre island that is part of the World, a man-made archipelago of 300 reclaimed sandbanks in the Gulf, fashioned into the shape of the globe's landmasses.

The islands, praised by some as an architectural miracle and condemned by others as an environmental disaster, were built in 2003 two miles off Dubai and can be seen from space.
They have become a symbol of Dubai's fading economic power in the global economic downturn. Built during the boom to be used as secluded playgrounds for the super-rich, they remain largely unused.

Qurashi is appealing to the emirate's royal ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, claiming that his convictions are the result of a miscarriage of justice.

He is one of a growing number of Britons caught out in Dubai by laws that hand down jail sentences for cheque fraud, which have been strictly enforced in the midst of collapsing house prices, negative equity and reduced credit.

Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained In Dubai, a British-based pressure group that fights injustices in the United Arab Emirates, is backing Qurashi's claims that he has been jailed by a dogmatic court which failed to take his circumstances into account.

She said: "Security cheques are commonly used in Dubai in business and private agreements as collateral. The law states that bouncing a cheque is illegal and can be punished with a sentence of three years in prison. But the legal system in Dubai does not take into account any circumstances or evidence surrounding the bounced cheques, leaving the law open to abuse or misuse."

Qurashi, 41, the son of a Pakistan-born travel agent, was a successful businessman in London, developing one of the first internet cafes in Soho. In 2004 he moved to Dubai, where he flourished, friends say. Four years later, his company, Premier Real Estate Bureau, turned over £400m and employed 80 staff.

He came to international prominence after buying the island in 2008. In an interview for the ITV show Piers Morgan On Dubai, he told the journalist that he planned to build a glitzy resort that would be a homage to his home city. "I am proud of my British heritage and not a day goes past when I don't miss London. It's home at the end of the day and who doesn't miss home?" he said.

Friends say Qurashi was arrested alongside his business partner in January after a Russian investor attempted to cash two multimillion-pound cheques, which both bounced.

Qurashi's legal team claimed that the cheques were presented after a property deal between the two parties had been completed and that the money was not owed.

He and his business partner were convicted on both charges in May and June this year. He has also been convicted of a third offence – this time for stopping a cheque – and is due to appear before a court next month to appeal against three years of his seven-year sentence.

Qurashi is being held in Dubai's central prison. His wife and three young children are permitted to visit him once a week. The British consulate is aware of his case.

A friend of Qurashi said he had the funds to pay out on the cheques but the courts did not take this into account. "The cheques were cashed by an investor … The cheques were a security deposit and should never have been cashed because Safi did not owe him money," he said. "Safi wants to develop the island into a resort and plans to do so when he gets out of prison. But right now, he can't do anything."

Dubai's World archipelagoWhen the World project was launched in 2003, it was hoped celebrities and the super-rich would snap up the islands. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were reported to have considered buying Ethiopia. David Beckham, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson and Prince Albert of Monaco were also rumoured to be interested.

None bought into the project. Most of the islands remain undeveloped, although it has been reported that the owner of the unpartitioned Ireland transported an Irish castle stone-by-stone to the Gulf.

Nakheel Properties created the foundations within five years, from 11bn cubic feet of sand and 47m tonnes of rock. But the development was criticised by environmental activists, who said the construction of artificial islands damaged coral reefs and shifts water currents.

Nakheel, which is in talks with creditors on restructuring $10.5bn of bank debt, has asked lenders to respond to the proposal by the end of next month, according to reports.

The developer met its creditor banks on Wednesday to present the proposed recapitalisation and restructuring plan