High Court extends worldwide freezing order against RAKIA in favour of Farhad Azima

Mr. Azima alleged in court that he was hacked by RAKIA and their solicitors, Dechert LLP, an international law firm. Dechert recently settled with Mr. Azima, agreeing to pay him multimillion-pound damages. However, Mr. Azima has had to pursue worldwide enforcement proceedings against the sovereign wealth fund to recover approximately £21 million owed in unsatisfied High Court judgments.

Mr. Justice Michael Green, sitting in private, initially granted the worldwide freezing injunction against RAKIA, stating that the fund had “behaved dishonestly and fraudulently, obtaining judgments from this court by fraud and mounting a full-scale operation to hack Mr. Azima's private and confidential information.” He further noted RAKIA’s “behaviour throughout the case has been shown to be dishonest and since it has backed out of the proceedings, it has failed to pay any of the orders made against it, despite it saying that it will ensure that any judgments entered against it are satisfied” [see para 12 of Mr. Justice Green's judgment].

RAKIA’s non-compliance with numerous English Court orders comes at a time when Ras Al Khaimah continues to promote itself as a safe destination for tourists and for international investment, with tours of France and Italy, as well as the promotion of Wynn Resorts’ Wynn Al Marjan Island project in Ras Al Khaimah.

Mr. Azima’s application for a freezing order arises from recent asset dissipation, including the purported sale on 30 May 2024 of the Marriott Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace Hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia, which for over 15 years was owned by Ras Al Khaimah Georgia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of RAKIA. The hotel was apparently sold for approximately $45 million to Tbilisi Hotel Holdings LLC, a newly incorporated company with “the same directors as RAKIA Georgia, [and] appears to be owned by a Ras Al Khaimah entity.” The transfer document was “signed by the same person on behalf of both the purchaser and the seller” [see para 4 of Mr. Justice Green's judgment].

The Court has supported Mr. Azima’s attempts to prevent further dissipation of assets by RAKIA, noting that it “appears that RAKIA is taking steps to make itself judgment-proof.” The global freezing order granted by Mr. Justice Michael Green was today extended indefinitely (or until the £21 million owed to Mr. Azima is satisfied), requiring RAKIA not to remove, dispose of, deal with, or diminish the value of any assets in England and Wales, or outside it, up to the value of £21 million.

Going beyond the scope of typical freezing orders, the order granted to Mr. Azima further restricts corporate bodies directly or indirectly owned or controlled by RAKIA from disposing of, dealing with, or diminishing the value of any of their respective assets, whether in or outside England and Wales, up to the same value. This provision aims to prevent any subsidiaries from avoiding enforcement action by dissipating assets. Additionally, RAKIA is required to provide Mr. Azima with a list of all its assets worldwide exceeding £50,000 in value, whether held in its own name or not.

If RAKIA or their officers, Naser Thafer Husni Al Bustami and Mohamad Sultan Al Qadi, disobey this order, they may be held in contempt of court, fined, have their assets seized, or, for the officers, imprisoned. This also applies to anyone in the UK who knowingly assists in or permits a breach of this order. Mr. Azima has put the owners and Marriott Hotels on notice not to abet asset dissipation on the part of Ras Al Khaimah.