Oaktree executive arrested on UAE theft charges
A London-based executive of Oaktree Capital, one of the biggest distressed-debt firms in the world, has been arrested in the UK at the request of authorities in the UAE after being accused of stealing $264m and now risks extradition.
Martin Graham, a 37-year-old Briton who still works as a senior vice-president for Oaktree, was arrested on a warrant and appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, according to court records. He was released on conditional bail until a further hearing in October. He denies wrongdoing.
The records show that Mr Graham is accused of stealing $264m between June 2014 and April 2015.
His arrest comes after the UAE convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to three years in prison, following a complaint lodged by Jean-Michel Tissier, a former managing director of Gulmar Group, an underwater engineering contractor thatOaktree had invested in.
Mr Tissier alleged that Mr Graham, acting on behalf of Oaktree, stole part of a $644m arbitration award to a Gulmar subsidiary. Gulmar Offshore Middle East received the money from a Venezuelan state oil company known as PDVSA after its assets were seized.
Gulmar Group is in liquidation and GOME is also in administration, overseen by AlixPartners.
Alix said: “In our role as administrators to GOME, AlixPartners commissioned an independent, third-party law firm to conduct an investigation into the settlement of the GOME arbitration proceedings.
“Whilst the contents of that report are a matter of commercial confidentiality we can confirm that in its preparation no wrongdoing was identified on the part of Mr Graham either personally or in his capacity as a director of GOME.”
The UK and the UAE have signed an extradition treaty but a UK court must find that there is evidence of a crime being committed before extradition is possible.
Extradition hearings do not determine whether an individual has committed an alleged crime, merely if there is a sufficient case to answer. A magistrate must alsoweigh up if allegations are tantamount to a crime in the UK, and whether an individual would be at risk of torture if extradited.
Oaktree, which is standing behind Mr Graham, described the claims as “meritless” and said Mr Graham, who has also worked at Goldman Sachs and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has not had a chance to defend himself against the allegations.
“They arise out of a long-pending commercial dispute related to the restructuring of Gulmar that will eventually be resolved in the ordinary course of business. The filing in Sharjah, UAE, that resulted in Mr Graham’s conviction in absentia was not initiated by Gulmar but by one of the parties to that commercial dispute,” said Oaktree.
“Mr Graham intends to resist his extradition through the legal process and Oaktree fully supports him. Oaktree further expects the conviction, which lacks any factual basis, will ultimately be overturned or withdrawn.”
The UAE embassy in London did not respond to messages seeking comment. Mr Tissier did not respond to a message on social media seeking comment.
Mr Graham has called on the services of James Lewis QC, the barrister who is also representing the so-called Hound of Hounslow, trader Navinder Singh Sarao, in hisextradition battle against the US.
Detained in Dubai