A Dubai court has sentenced Abdulrahman Bashar, the owner of Rahamaniyya Group and Ultimate Oil & Gas, to one year in prison over financial misconduct involving CI Energy Company, an oil and gas firm.
The court verdict marks the second time in less than five years that Bashar has faced imprisonment.
In 2020, a UK court sentenced him to ten months behind bars for disregarding court orders in a dispute with Sahara Energy Resources.
According to court documents obtained by Premium Times, the UAE court delivered its ruling on January 30, 2025. Despite receiving official court notices, the 48-year-old businessman failed to appear for the proceedings.
Bashar was charged with issuing seven cheques totaling 126.45 million dirhams from an Emirates Islamic Bank account.
However, discrepancies in his signature rendered the cheques invalid.
Prosecutors argued that he intentionally signed the cheques in a manner that would prevent them from being cashed.
During the trial, presiding Judge Hussein Hamdi reviewed key evidence, including statements from CI Energy’s agent, Jamal Awad Nasser Hussein, as well as cheque copies and account records. The court found the evidence sufficient to establish Bashar’s guilt.
“The offense of issuing a cheque is committed the moment it is handed over to the beneficiary, knowing there are insufficient funds to cover it,” the court ruled.
Bashar’s legal team attempted to contest the charges, but the court dismissed their arguments, stating that his denial was simply an attempt to evade justice.
To ensure a swift resolution, the court referred a related civil compensation claim to the appropriate civil court for further proceedings.
Bashar’s legal troubles date back to February 2020, when Justice Butcher of the England and Wales High Court sentenced him to ten months in prison for repeatedly violating court orders.
The case stemmed from a dispute with Sahara Energy Resources, which accused Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas of failing to supply 6,400.49 metric tonnes of gas as per their contract.
As a consequence, Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas was fined £500,000, while its manager, Adebowale Aderemi, was ordered to pay a £10,000 penalty.
