Wife of man who has been locked in Dubai jail for 18 years issues emotional plea
The wife of a British man who has been locked in a Dubai jail for years is pleading for his release.
Heather Cornelius says her husband has been given more time in prison because he is unable to repay millions of pounds to the authorities in Dubai.
Ryan Cornelius was convicted, along with three others, of defrauding the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) in 2011, the Guardian reports. He was arrested while travelling through Dubai in May 2008, returning to his home in Bahrain from Karachi, Pakistan.
The British national was accused of failing to keep up with payments on a loan from the bank to fund a business deal, but he denied the charge. He was ordered by a Dubai court to pay $432 million.
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DIB brought proceedings to recover the loan under a law that allows prison sentences to be extended for convicted offenders who fail to repay the proceeds of fraud, the Mail reports. The bank has seized all of his assets, including a property development called the Plantation.
When he was nearing the end of his original ten year sentence, it was extended a further 20 years - reportedly due to an Emirati law passed after his arrest - meaning he will not be released until 2038
Cornelius, 67, has already spent 13 years in a Dubai jail cell with five other inmates and he is now not due for release until he is 85, meaning he will spend almost two more decades in jail.
Cornelius' wife, Heather, has criticised the British government for what she says is its failure to provide adequate help to her husband.
“I believe they are determined to keep my husband in jail until he dies,” she told the Mail. “I am terrified that he will pass away behind bars and that I will never get to see my husband again.”
During his arrest, Heather claims officers seized his phone and bound his hands before transporting him to police headquarters. She did not hear from her husband for 10 days.
He was questioned about invoices and a loan he had received from DIB to fund a property development called Plantation. The loan was 'improperly funnelled into developing the Plantation', the Mail reports.
“Their intention is for him to never get out,” she told the publication. “Ryan and his partners had not defaulted on the loan. They had paid their debt right up until they were put into jail.
“Of course you can’t run businesses from jail, so I think effectively the Dubai authorities wanted to silence everybody and keep them out of the way.”
Meanwhile, Cornelius’s lucrative portfolio of properties was confiscated by the authorities.
The Plantation was valued at £755 million when Cornelius entered into a repayment agreement with the bank in 2007.
Heather and her three children, a 32-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 30 and 19, were left homeless after the family’s three London properties were taken following a successful debt claim by DIB in the British courts.
The family has since been forced to take turns living with Heather’s sisters.
“We had everything taken from us," she said. "I have family in the UK that have strived to help me and their homes are my homes but it's not really what you envision at 60 years old.
"Our main focus is supporting our children. You can't imagine how hard it is to keep up hope with so many twists and turns and things that seem terribly wrong in the whole process."
A spokesperson for the UAE Embassy in the UK previously told the BBC that Mr Cornelius had a 'fair trial'.
"Ryan Cornelius illegally obtained a loan of £372m, by bribing staff members at Dubai Islamic Bank," a spokesperson said.
"Following a fair trial in which all due processes were followed, Mr Cornelius was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was later lawfully extended as he had failed to repay the creditor (Dubai Islamic Bank) during this time - which is in line with UAE law.
"The whereabouts of the funds Mr Cornelius obtained are unknown."
Tyla has contacted the UAE Embassy in the UK and the Foreign Office for further comment.
Topics: World News, Crime, Travel, UK News
Greg Harris