Dubai World files theft charges against former CEO

DUBAI - The government-owned conglomerate Dubai World announced Tuesday it had filed a case against a former executive who escaped from the United Arab Emirates to avoid fraud charges.

The Dubai-based investment company filed a case in a federal court in the US state of Florida, accusing Herve Jaubert of theft and embezzlement during his time as CEO of Dubai World subsidiary Exomos, established in 2004 to design and make submarines.

“Jaubert misrepresented his ability to design and build submarines to obtain his position as CEO of Exomos, and then used that position to steal millions of dollars from Dubai World,” a statement from the company said.

Jaubert was convicted in absentia by the Dubai Criminal Court last April and was sentenced to five years in jail.

The Former French navy officer and marine engineer, who served in the French intelligence service until March 1993, last week told reporters that he escaped the UAE in May 2008 by disguising himself as an Arab woman and fleeing to international waters in a rubber dingy.

He was wearing clothes that covered him from head to toe so no one would identify him or speak to him.

Jaubert said that Dubai World claimed that expensive equipment was missing in 2007, adding that the accusations were a pretext for the company to get rid of him and that he provided receipts proving that nothing was missing.

He said that he has turned his story into a book, Escape from Dubai, to be published in October.