DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A small emirate in the United Arab Emirates has accused a businessman who once ran its local sovereign wealth fund of "global embezzlement and mismanagement of $1.5 billion."
A spokeswoman for the businessman, Khater Massaad, declined to immediately comment Monday when reached by The Associated Press.
An unusually strongly worded dispatch carried by the state-run WAM news agency accused Massaad of stealing the money while serving as the head of the Ras al-Khaimah Investment Authority. The Las Vegas-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute estimates that fund is worth $1.2 billion.
Massaad previously was described in local press reports as being an adviser to Sheikh Saud bin Saqr, who now is the ruler of Ras al-Khaimah. The small emirate in the UAE's north borders Oman and is near the Strait of Hormuz.
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