Artist Joyce Valkhoff was caught up in a corrupt Arabian thriller

With trust, multiple pieces of artist canvases and 15.561 euro transferred to her bank account, travelled Joyce Valkhoff in 2004 to Dubai. Not for the money. But for a new challange and passion for her work.
She was the chosen one…..but the Dutch artist landed in a complot with false identities and corruption, due to the individuals surrounding President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan and the prestigious Emirates Palace,
the most expensive hotel ever been built. After having made the art collection in a bathroom, where she was compelled to make the 34 piece art collection, in shock, stolen her art collection and having been threatend within the UAE, she lives now in hiding.
From her hiding place, she now fights for her rights.

Her house is a bunker, literally. Her secret hideaway, is totally cut off from civilization, with just a few rabbits, she tells her story of the nightmare that took place in the rich oil country. Obviously an inspiring location, due to the thousands of notable precision documentation, forms in 4 hours time an impressive claim. 
She has accumulated evidences, totally on her own and for the last 5 years.

For somebody that has lived in total solitude as well as having  been burden with heavy psychologically stress put upon her, she still has a broad smile on her face. Different than when our first contact. Via other fax numbers and email addresses. Her telephone is tapped and her website closely watched via private satellites.
Here you have copies of the dates and the times noted on them. When I contacted the Abu Dhabi Contact Center, an extension of the government, was my website watched by nameless IP addresses. These are the business cards from people who do not even exist. And these are the ground floor plans of the private quarters of the Presidents within the Arabian world, where my paintings are hanging. Top secret material.

……….. With, hopefully you have enough time says Joyce Valkhoff, a former visualizer. After a free life in Sydney Australia, she found her new passion after working hours…..painting. International success that reached even our own Dutch Royal Family.
One day a good friend suggested to take a look and to go to Dubai. That is where I thought my golden future would be, because the oil state has the greatest wish of making their city, Abu Dhabi, into an international cultural city. They even are building the second Louvre and a Guggenheim Museum.
During her trip, she met her first contact, Mr Butti Saif Al Muhairi, the old protocol Director of the Jumeirah Group and Burj Al Arab. Mr. Butti was impressed by the work of Valkhoff. The man would eventually be a crucial position within the fraud scheme. It did not take long before Valkhoff, being back in the Netherlands, would hear that she was chosen out of
350 artists to the honor of making the art collection. Better today than tomorrow. Her contact was Carrie Nicholson. But I had my needs and wants. I wanted to paint on my own linen. That was no problem. But whom was I painting for? That I would hear later. Who was going to organise my workers permit? Important, because otherwise you could land up in jail.
All would be taken care of at my arrival. On the 9th of September 2004, was just over 15,000 euro transferred to my bank account via Cornellian Gallery. A small detail, the real Cornelian Gallery is spelt with one L.

continue reading original source http://www.robhammink.com/2010/09/18/the-art-of-deception/

The Painting which have been stolen and now in the Emirates Palace can be seen here   Thehouseoffalcon.nl official Wbsite of Joyce Valkhoff

Justice For Natalie – Natalie Creane and her struggle for justice and survival in UAE

To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie.
To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie. More Information on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForNatalie

Natalie Creane and her struggle for justice and survival. original source Facebook

To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie.

*UPDATE – The Emirates Palace Hotel, The Kempinski Group and ADNIC were all found guilty on Wednesday 27th February 2013 and Natalie was awarded just 200 dirhams (35 pounds) in legal fees and 200,000 dirhams (around 35,000 pounds) to cover her past medical bills, future life long care and bills and treatment, loss of earnings in the past and until she reaches retirement age and emotional damages.
After going to the Kempinski managed Emirates Palace Hotel for a weekend break with her husband and stepson, Natalie opened the door to the wardrobe in her hotel room to put shoes in the bottom. A loose wooden panel high up in the top of the wardrobe that should have been fitted to cover the audio visual unit fell, hitting her on the front of the head, this panel was so high up above the wardobe, Natalie would have needed a ladder to reach it and a key to open it. It was also set back, therefore, hit her on her temporal lobe (the front part of her head) A member of the hotel’s staff found Natalie unconscious in the room. Rather than call an ambulance, the hotel’s duty manager took her to hospital by car. The Hotel have never denied the accident took place.

It immediately became clear that Natalie was very unwell. With no prior history of such problems, she also began to suffer from horrendous seizures and was suffering from the horrendous effects of a major concussion and was, therefore, incapacitated for months and months. The Emirates Palace Hotel referred the family to its insurance company. After talks with the company broke down, the family was faced with the hotel’s lawyers. Forced to take their case to court, a full two years after the accident, the family is still fighting for justice now – four years on.

Natalie was a Regional Director in a Global firm at the time of the accident, with an incredible career and future ahead of her with her future husband by her side.

Natalie suffers from Post Traumatic Intractable Refractory Epilepsy and Traumatic Brain Injury. Her seizures cause her to collapse suddenly and she has frequently sustained serious injuries during these seizures, including broken bones and fractures. Natalie has been in five comas and on ventilators, had blood clots in her lung and leg, extreme blood toxicity, paralysis, temporary loss of sight, massive hair loss, severe debilitating headaches, temporary loss of speech, confusion, permanent memory loss, insomnia, constant infections due to suppressed immunity and over 20 stays in intensive care. Natalie has lost her career, her independence and has had over 45 admissions to hospitals over the last 4 years many via emergency.

Natalie has just been discharged from ICU coming out of her fifth induced coma and being ventilated in Dubai, Rashid Hospital, where she was receiving emergency care. She urgently needs to receive specialist neurological help in a centre that specialises in Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Epilepsy that cannot be controlled and is as serious as Natalies. This costs hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars and surgery even more. She needs to have her medications assessed and have specialist cognitive therapy amongst many many other types of urgent treatment. They have silently fought to try and get the hotel to step up and admit its liability for an incident which has resulted in such appalling consequences for Natalie and her family.

Each seizure carries with it more risk of severe brain damage. Her brain injury has never been properly treated. The years of medications and hospitalisations are causing serious secondary complications.

The court process and the officials involved have so far been fair, professional and diligent throughout, including the medical experts and the judges, who only want a fair trial with the facts in place. This is all Natalie and her family have ever wanted.

After four years of battling quietly, afraid of prejudicing Natalie’s position with the hotel and its insurance company, the family has finally broken its silence and welcomes public support for Natalie. It remains the family’s hope that Emirates Palace Hotel does what it should have done in the first place – admit liability for the accident and help Natalie before it’s too late. Doctors have told Natalie if she has another large seizure she could die.

Treffpunkt der Spione – Die verschwiegenste Messe der Welt in Dubai

Vergangenen Woche fand sie JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai statt,  die ISS World MEA.  die wohl verschwiegenste Messe der Welt . Abgeschirmt von jederlei Publikumsverkehr oder gar Journalisten waren Geschäftskunden einer ganz besonderen Sorte: Geheimdienstmitarbeiter sowie Staatsschützer, Sicherheitsbeamte und Militärs – vor allem aus dem arabischen Raum.

Angeboten werden Programme, Viren und Trojaner, die – laut Veranstaltungsprogramm – Computer mit “Spionagesoftware infizieren”, mit denen sich aber auch “soziale Netzwerke überwachen” oder “verschlüsselter Datenverkehr aufzeichnen” lassen. Auch für “Handy-Ermittlungen” gibt es Produkte – wobei der Begriff “Ermittlung” in diesem Fall sowohl die Ortung der Geräte wie auch das Abhören umfasst. Als Hauptsponsor der ISS in Dubai trat das Münchener Unternehmen Trovicor auf, berichtet das Handelsblatt.

continue reading original source Handelsblatt

Quelle Handelsblatt Februar 2012

Lesen Sie auch … Horrorszenarien eines Immobilienkaufs in Dubai – Strafanzeige gegen Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum in Deutschland

Iranian and U.A.E. Government Sites hacked by Anonymous

Hackers have broken into the networks of both the Iranian and the Dubai governments, stealing more than 10,000 email messages as well as system usernames and passwords and releasing them online.

Anonymous strikes again: Iranian and UAE governments hacked Report by The Independent Blogs

The hacktivist responsible for targeting Dubai said he had carried out the assault “because it’s time governments learn they have no power on the internet. This is our world”.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs succumbed to a hacking attack perpetrated by Anonymous, which yielded the bulk of the email addresses. And, on Friday afternoon, a lone hacker – apparently with links to the group – struck the Dubai government’s system, releasing a “historic list of former gov.ae email passwords”, the domain used by the Arab Emirate.

Source continue reading The Independent Blogs

Further Reports to this Topic:

Atlantic Wire

 

Damac facing corruption charges in Egypt

UAE – Egypt March 2011  source ahramonline Egypt

Six prominent businessmen facing corruption charges in Egypt have offered to make financial reparations totalling some LE2.375bn, with one pledging to return five million square metres of land on the country’s northern coast he is alleged to have gained illegally.

The men – Ahmed Ezz, Mounir Ghabbour, Hisham Al-Hathek, Hussein Sajwani, Mohamed Abul-Enein and UAE businessmen Omar Al-Futtaim – made these offers during investigations into their business activities carried out by Ali Hawary, the Attorney General for public fund prosecution.

Former secretary of the National Democratic Party Ahmed Ezz offered to pay LE1bn, representing the value of shares seized by his Suez Steel Company in violation of trading regulations.

UAE businessman Omar Al Futtaim suggested paying LE1bn to cover the difference between the sum he paid for a plot of land in a deal with the former Minster of Housing Ahmed Al-Maghrabi, and the actual market value of the land, which was much higher.

Hussein Sajwani, Chairman of DAMAC Properties, pledged to pay LE150m representing the value of land allocated to him by Zuhair Garana, Egypt’s former tourism minister. Hisham Al-Hathek offered to pay LE150m as reparation for his involvement in the same case.

UAE send 12 Jets to help enforce the no-fly zone over Libya

ABU DHABI March 26, 2011  source The National

The UAE will send six Mirage and six F-16 fighter jets to the country, according to a statement released yesterday by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The move isthe biggest military contribution yet by an Arab country to the operation, which is the most serious challenge to Col Qaddafi’s four-decade rule.

Sheikh Abdullah said the decision was an extension of the UAE’s commitment to humanitarian operations in Libya.

“As an extension of those humanitarian operations the UAE Air Force has committed six F-16 and six Mirage aircraft to participate in the patrols that will enforce the no-fly zone now established over Libya,” he said.

 

 

A UN Security Council resolution issued last week authorised the use of military force to enforce a no-fly zone and “all necessary measures” short of a ground invasion of Libya to protect civilians, as fears grew of an imminent onslaught by pro-Qaddafi forces on rebel-held cities.

Arab support was seen as crucial to the operation to underscore the coalition and cast it as a truly international effort, not a western intervention that could be used as a propaganda tool by Col Qaddafi.

Investors in one of Palm Jumeirah’s developments formed a group to advocate for their interests

DUBAI // Investors in one of Palm Jumeirah’s biggest developments say they have been left out in the cold by a Dh1 billion (US$272.3 million) legal dispute between Souq Residences, the company behind the project and Nakheel, which built the group of islands.

The investors in the Golden Mile who recently formed a group to advocate for their interests say they have yet to move in six years after the project’s launch, even though construction has been completed and they have paid in full for their properties.

“We’ve had immense difficulty,” said Suhail Rehman, one of the investors. “People have lost two years of rent on fully paid-up assets.”

“We’re being reminded of this by cases against some of the government and private developers. It’s not just a matter of finances but also of putting a legal system in place to handle these disputes.”

source The National continue reading…

Dubai detained Safi Qurashi begs Queen for help

Safi Qurashi was a successful property developer.Until he was convicted of bouncing $80 million in checks by a court in Dubai and was sentenced to seven years in jail recently. Now he’s begging Queen Elizabeth to save him, the Evening Standard reports.

Queen Elizabeth arrived in the UAE yesterday on a state visit, and Qurashi wants her to save him, since she happens to be in town.
So he wrote the Queen a letter that has been published in the Telegraph UK
Here’s what he writes in his letter:

My life took a dramatic turn on Friday 15th January 2010, when two plain clothed officers arrested me for bouncing a cheque and took me to CID headquarters. I was held for eight hours in a cell… No phone calls. No lawyer.There I was kept handcuffed to a chair for another 8 hours. No-one spoke English. I was asked two questions: myname and whether I signed two cheques. When I answered yes, I was sent to Port Rashid jail at 4am. I got a new lawyer who spent five minuteswith me. When I said surely he needed input from me, he responded “thisis not England, we do things our way”… There were two hearings eachone a minute long. Two questions were asked and I was sentenced: a seven year jail term. I realized that the judge had neither read nor reviewed any of the evidence. He did not establish whether I actually broke the law. A cheque bounced. Nothing else was considered.

Qurashi says his family, who he moved to Dubai from London six years ago, are suffering “mental torture” because of his imprisonment. 

Read more in The Evening Standard

Emiratis could account for just 13.3 percent of population in 2010

Abu Dhabi Royal acquitted – The New York Times News Blog

Hydra Properties to appeal against buyers court victory

source Zawya
Hydra Properties says it will appeal against a court decision in favour of two property buyers in its troubled Hydra Village development.

The case, brought by two European women, was recently heard through the Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi, a source close to the couple said.

If Hydra loses the appeal, the investors will be refunded the money they have so far paid to the project.

“In principle, they have won the case, and through the legal system they should have the money released to them,” said the source.

Between 10 and 20 more cases by investors were under way against Hydrawhile a further 150 claimants were seeking legal advice, the source said. The cases are being handled by MIO Lawyers and Legal Consultants, based in Abu Dhabi.

Ali bin Sulayem, the chief executive of Hydra Properties, said the company would appeal against the decision and it was still open to negotiating with investors out of court.

“I think that anyone, when there is a dispute, has the right to file cases,” he said. “This is our right to appeal, we have to use it. But I am sure the door of negotiation is still open. It does not mean that if a case is filed against our company that we cannot still find a way of settling this matter.”

The legal action is the consequence of a long-running battle between the investors and Hydra over contract changes, price rises on previously sold properties and demands to make payments for homes that are significantly delayed.

Talk of taking the firm to court started in June, when the Hydra Litigation Group was formed among members of the Hydra Investors Group. About 150 out of 350 people joined the litigation group, with about 50 per cent now pursuing the legal route, said Karl Howard, the co-chairman of the group.

Many of the investors had hoped to settle their contract issues – which included price hikes for property size increases due to an overhaul of the project’s masterplan – amicably with the firm.

But the final straw for most came recently when they received a letter, seen by The National, from Hydras legal department saying their units would be cancelled and all money kept if they failed to sign the new version of the contract by October 15.

“I don’t think you can threaten people to sign a contract that’s not acceptable,” said Graeme Perry, the deputy chairman of the Hydra Investors Group. “It’s got to the stage where people are saying ‘no’ and are lodging court cases.”

One investor, who has started legal proceedings and is hoping to recoup Dh450,000 (US$122,515), said: “We were trying to negotiate with HydraHydraLoading…, but then it got to the point when we realised there was no hope.”

Another investor, who has also started legal proceedings, said: “I’ve had enough now, it’s deeply frustrating. I’ve paid Dh400,000 and am not paying any more … I’m interested in getting out of this and getting my money back.”

More investors are expected to pursue legal action. “We do want to go ahead with it [legal action] as we don’t just want to sit back,” said Matt O’Hara, who has so far paid Dh250,000 towards a villa at Hydra Village.

“But we’re just weighing things up at the moment.”

A lawyer representing the investors at MIO declined to comment.

In June, Hydra tried to appease Hydra Village investors by giving those who had paid 50 per cent or more a payment break until the middle of next year, while penalties for late payment for those who had invested less were waived.

The company, which is owned by The Royal Group and at the time was headed up by Sulaiman al Fahim, the new owner of Portsmouth Football Club in England, also assured investors their homes would be built. The project was supposed to be delivered this year, but is now unlikely to be finished until 2011.

Hydrais one of dozens of developers that sold off-plan property to a market dominated by speculators during the boom, and which is now struggling to get buyers to keep up their payments. The situation has led to a rise in property disputes in Dubai, with Hydras being the first major dispute of its kind in Abu Dhabi.

According to Saud Masud, the head of research and senior analyst of real estate at UBS bank, many buyers did not question the fundamentals of their investments. Hydra Village was sold to investors with promises of a five-star hotel, swimming pools, fountains and significant green areas. But none of these features exist in the revised masterplan.

“In general, if you look at the amount of investment that flowed two years ago, you can’t really argue the case that they were sound investments,” Mr Masud said.

“It was about speculation. Investors didn’t really question the fundamentals of the company, the portfolio, timelines or finances. We all knew this was a pay-as-you-go model.”

Mr Masud said projects were being delayed before the fallout from the economic downturn. “The writing was already on the wall, even in 2006. Handovers were delayed significantly.”

By Angela Giuffrida and Nathalie Gillet
The National 2009

Interpol – UAE ADCB Banker Wanted

original published 7days.ae

An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “This is a personal matter linked to his personal divorce case and is not linked in any way to the bank’s activities,” the bank said in a statement. The capital’s third-largest bank said it supported Eirvin Knox, a 59-year-old American, who has headed ADCB since 2003.

The warrant was issued in the Philippines, where Knox once worked as the head of a major bank, and relates to “a violation of an early 2004 (Philippine) act pertaining to violence against women and their children,” Interpol sources said. The Interpol warrant is classified as a “red notice” which seeks the arrest of a wanted person with a view to extradition, they said.“He was married to a Filipina and she is a very well connected person,” a senior official at ADCB said. ADCB said Abu Dhabi courts had already ruled in favour of Knox and the “current matter is linked to the implementation of a sentence between him and his divorcee”.Knox did not respond immediately to calls for comment. The UAE Interior Ministry and police officials declined to comment. Knox joined ADCB having come from Ahli Bank of Kuwait, according to a biography on the Global Real Estate web site. He was a country chief executive for 24 years with Standard Chartered Bank and Continental Bank of Chicago, having started his career in the United States with earlier assignments including Wells Fargo Bank and Continental Bank, the web site said.According to World Trade Markets country guide, which contains information provided by the US Department of Commerce, Knox was previously the chief executive of Standard Chartered in the Philippines. Since joining the bank in 2003, Knox has overseen a near 400 per cent growth in net profit to dhs1.98 billion ($539 million) last year from 405 million in 2003.

___________________

ADCB stands by chief as Interpol issues warrant

The warrant, which was issued by Interpol’s Manila branch in the Philippines, accuses Knox of committing “crimes against life and health.”
The warrant was followed immediately by an official statement by ADCB, which denied that the offences are related to any banking activities, and emphasising its support for the chief executive.

Personal matter
“This is a personal issue not related to the bank’s business. The bank and its executive management confirm their full support and ratification of all the CEO’s actions,” the bank’s statement said.
“The issuance of an Interpol Red Notice against the CEO is just a personal issue regarding a matrimonial matter and has nothing to do with the bank’s business,” the statement further explained.
It also said the marital proceedings filed and examined before the UAE courts of law were resolved in favour of Knox and that the court decision is pending execution.
“Everything is possible in the Philippines, especially if you are well connected, and it seems that the financial settlement for the divorce set by the UAE courts did not appeal to the lady who seeks to pressure Knox for getting more out of him,” a top ADCB executive said.

“Interpol’s branch in the UAE respects the court’s decisions in this respect, and accordingly it did not contact the chief executive,” another ADCB official told Gulf News.

original punlished GulfNews.com

By Ahmed A. Elewa
© Gulf News 2008

Sorouh MD warns developers to deliver on promises

The managing director of Abu Dhabi’s largest publicly listed real estate company has rounded on rogue developers that risk undermining confidence in the city’s property market.Sorouh Real Estate’s Abubaker Al Khouri said that if customers’ expectations of quality are not met, it will have negative impacts on the market as a whole.”We are still in a relatively immature market, in the sense that many purchasers are yet to actually see what their money has bought. Most ‘homeowners’ in the UAE actually only own a promise. So what they are buying is actually the reputation of the firm,” said Al Khouri at this week’s Cityscape exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

“There are real estate companies in the UAE that have yet to deliver a single property,” he continued.”The ones that deliver high quality products will prosper; those that don’t will damage not only themselves, but the market as a whole.”Developers must deliver exactly what they have promised when they sell off-plan, says Al Khouri or confidence could evaporate. “Consumers need to trust the development, the developer and the overall market,” he said.He identified the need for high quality management as critical to ensure confidence remains high, and revealed that it is becoming harder and harder to hire the right people.”What makes a company qualified is professional management and resources, which is increasingly difficult to find at a high calibre, despite the generous packages offered, due to competition in the market and the global real estate boom,” he said.”There has been tremendous growth in the number of developers and that means tremendous growth in the number of professionals needed to make these businesses flourish.”But it is not just today we should be worrying about, it is the future too. That is why developers should invest in the very best calibre of professionals, at every level of the business, including strong investment in training and development of the next generation of managers.”