THE Dubai jail nightmare of former Leeds United managing director David Haigh is continuing after he was accused of cyber slander just as his 18-month imprisonment for financial misappropriation was ending.
The new charges followed a complaint from former Leeds United owners Gulf Finance House (GFH). The BBC has reported Mr Haigh pled not guilty at a hearing yesterday, saying he could not have posted the Twitter messages while in jail.
He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to £5,500.
Mr Haigh became managing director of the football club in July 2013, but was arrested in May 2014 on charges of misappropriating around $5m of GFH funds, by fabricating around 100 invoices, and paying into four different bank accounts in Dubai, London and Manchester.
He maintains he was lured to Dubai, where he was held without charge for more than a year before being sentenced to two years in prison. He had been due to be released last month, until the latest complaint was made.
Mr Haigh’s legal struggles have not been restricted to Dubai. In October his private prosecution in London against solicitor Peter Gray and GFH executives Hisham Al Rayes and Jinesh Patel, who he accused of “human trafficking”, was dismissed. District Judge Ikram awarded costs totalling £229,500 against him after deciding “it was wholly improper to launch these proceedings”.
