Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
ACI Dubai Funds filed bankruptcy in Germany
Gütersloh / Bielefeld, Germany (dpa).
Several companies from real estate funds in Dubai, under the umbrella of the Gütersloh investment company ACI have registered on Friday for bankruptcy. In this act it is the companies of the Fund II to V and the ACI IV Beteiligungs GmbH, said the district court of Bielefeld. A temporary administrator will probably determined on Monday, it said. File number has not yet been awarded.
The company had previously announced bankruptcy. ACI-founder Uwe Lohmann had stressed that the reason is the falling price of real estate in Dubai.
continue reading original text in german ....
Full report update source The National
Berlin // German prosecutors have confirmed they are investigating
the management of Alternative Capital Invest (ACI), the biggest German
property investment fund in Dubai, amid allegations of fraud. The
company had declared bankruptcy on four of its investment funds.
“An investigation has been launched against executives of the company ACI
for alleged capital investment fraud and breach of trust,” Heinrich
Rempe, a senior prosecutor in Bielefeld, western Germany, told The
National last night.
entering into investments in Dubai. The investigation is focusing on
alleged false information given in the prospectus the company issued
for its funds.”
Mr Rempe said ACI had a total of seveninvestment funds and that four of them, numbered II to V, had filed for insolvency. He said the investigation had been going on for several months.
“The probe is still at an early stage,” Mr Rempe added.ACI declined to comment.
According to Handelsblatt, a leading German business newspaper, ACI had collected about €210 million (Dh1 billion) from about 6,000 investors in its
various funds to invest in constructing high-rise developments in Dubai.
Handelsblatt said Bielefeld prosecutors were investigating the founder of ACI, Hanns-Uwe Lohmann, and his son Robin, and that ACI’s headquarter in the western German town of Guetersloh had been searched in June.
the projects ACI had invested in were unfinished and the slump in Dubai
property prices had forced the company to make “unavoidable balance
sheet write-downs of the book values”.
Mr Lohmann has resigned as the chief executive of ACI.
ACI is engaged in several development and property projects in Dubai and was best known for its concept of “tower branding”.
the Formula 1 drivers Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda, and the tennis
champion Boris Becker. Huge advertisement campaigns ran throughout Dubai until 2008 before the property market reached its peak.ACI
told investors in a recent letter that while its Dubai Fonds II to V
had declared bankruptcy, the latest funds Dubai Fonds VI and VII had
not. Fonds I had been closed at an earlier date, and €13.5m had been
paid out to investors.Media reports said ACI had expected to realise projects worth more than €600m in Dubai before the financial situation deteriorated.
ACI developments include the Dubai Star tower in Jumeirah Lake Towers for
which a new contractor is being sought, according to a statement by ACI
Real Estate in Dubai.
The Q Sami tower and Victory Bay in Business Bay are also seeking new contractors. The PKS Residences and the Mayfield Gardens projects in Jumeirah Village have been put on hold, along with the Niki Lauda, Boris Becker and Michael Schumacher towers and the Wings of Arabia project in Dubailand.
Progress on the Ferretti and Pershing Beach Residences on Waterfront
have also ground to a halt, although they were slated for completion by
next year.
ACI claims that some of the projects have already been sold.
Earlier this year, ACI tried unsuccessfully to sell other assets as potential
buyers cancelled deals. Mr Lohmann blamed this on “intrigues” by
competitors and unfavourable reports in the media.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Dubai aircraft crash UPS Statement on Incident
A UPS cargo plane has been involved in an accident in Dubai. At the request of the families, UPS can now confirm that two of our
crewmembers, Captain Doug Lampe of Louisville, Kentucky, and First
Officer Matthew Bell of Sanford, Florida, lost their lives in the crash
of Flight 6 yesterday, Sept. 3, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
"This is a terrible tragedy, and all of us at UPS extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of both of these crewmembers," said UPS CEO Scott Davis. "Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with them during this difficult time."
The UPS Family Assistance Team is working with the victims' families to help them in their time of need.
Captain Lampe, 48, has been with UPS since 1995. First Officer Bell, 38, has been with UPS since 2006. Both crewmembers flew out of UPS's Anchorage, Alaska domicile, or pilot base.
The aircraft, tail number N571UP, was just three years old, entering UPS service off the Boeing production line in September 2007. The airframe had flown 9977 hours, completing 1764 takeoffs and landings. It was up to date on all maintenance, having just completed a major inspection in June 2010.
UPS owns 12 747-400s, eight of which are new, and four of which have
been purchased from other carriers and adapted for UPS use. The aircraft, which has a payload capacity of nearly 258,600 pounds, is used on long-range international routes, such as the regular Dubai-Cologne routing.
The GCAA will take the lead on the investigation and release all
information on the progress of the investigation.
NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has designated senior air safety investigator Bill English as the U.S. accredited representative. His team will include NTSB specialists in the areas of human performance, fire, operations and systems. The team will also include technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, UPS, GE and the Independent Pilots Association.
A UPS team has arrived in Dubai at this time and will cooperate with authorities in the investigation."We established an internal command center within minutes of learning of this tragedy. It will be staffed around the clock with experts from every part of our operation," said UPS Airlines President Bob Lekites.
"Safe, secure operations are our top priorities for our employees, our customers, and our public stakeholders."
source UPS