DUBAI: A Dubai property firm chief said Tuesday he was seeking international arbitration against Egypt after a Cairo court sentenced him to five years for corruption along with the former tourism minister. Hussain Al-Sajwani, the chairman of major developer DAMAC, said he has "brought the ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) claim against Egypt under the bilateral investment treaty between the United Arab Emirates and Egypt." DAMAC said the treaty "protects investments made by UAE nationals in Egypt". Sajwani was jailed in absentia along with businessman Hisham Al-Hazeq, in the trial of former Egyptian tourism minister Zuheir Garana. Garana is one of several ministers who served under toppled president Hosni Mubarak and facing justice as part of a sweeping probe into corruption by the country's new military rulers. Sajwani was ordered to pay a $40.5 million fine, DAMAC complained. Garana is said to have ordered the sale of 305 million square meters — some of which was oil-rich — to Hazeq and Sajwani for $1 per square meter for tourism projects. He was convicted of wasting public funds worth $51 million. "Egypt's recent criminal prosecution and conviction in absentia violate the treaty on investment protection" DAMAC said, claiming it has "caused significant damage to his (Sajwani's) investments in Egypt and the wider Gulf area." It said the group's investments in Egypt include a 30 million square meter development project at Gamsha Bay, near Hurghada, as well as four major real estate projects in the greater Cairo area. "The criminal prosecution and conviction of Mr Sajwani were a classic case of 'guilt by association.' No crime was committed by simply conducting business with the former regime," Sajwani's counsel, Ken Fleuriet, said in the statement. "While the Egyptian court held that the price paid for the Gamsha Bay property was too low, the transaction was entirely proper, and DAMAC was entitled to rely upon the price charged by the government at the time," he said, claiming that the transaction was "fully vetted." DAMAC charged that the trial was a "travesty of justice," claiming that the prosecutor did not provide any evidence of wrongdoing, while Sajwani was not informed of the case but learned of it through the press. Washington-based ICSID is the leading international arbitration institution devoted to investor-state dispute settlement.
