Robin's return

Robin Lohmann was once the darling of the Dubai property industry, with sporting legends including Michael Schumacher and Boris Becker lining up to do business with him. Today, amid a massive property market crash, his company ACI is at the centre of a storm, following a series of allegations over what happened to his investors’ cash. He spoke exclusively to Alex Delmar-Morgan and Anil Bhoyrul.

It’s January 2008 and Robin Lohmann couldn’t be happier. He has just given a joint press conference with Michael Schumacher at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, after which the ACI (Alternative Capital Invest) boss and the F1 legend jump into a golf buggy. They are pursued by the world’s media, eager for more. After all, Schumacher has won seven F1 titles, while Lohmann himself has also become a national hero back home in Germany. The property developer is the darling of the industry, thanks largely to his branded sports developments. He boasts of having over AED1bn already invested in Dubai, and everyone wants a slice of the action.

A farcical chase on golf buggies ends at the hotel’s conference centre, where Lohmann agrees to do one-to-one interviews. “You all need to calm down. Michael and I are not going anywhere,” he tells us.

Eighteen months is a long time in the property industry. Lohmann, managing director of ACI, is still not “going anywhere,” as authorities investigate complaints from investors. House prices have plunged 50 percent or more. Investors expecting their first big cheques in March this year from his development fund are still waiting. Construction is either slow or non-existent on many flagship projects. His ventures on Nakheel’s Waterfront development, which he says have left him, his group and partners high and dry to the tune of AED800m ($217.8m), have completely stalled. Accusations and counter-accusations are coming faster than Schumacher in a Ferrari.

For a man under pressure, Lohmann is well turned out in a crisply ironed white shirt, suit trousers and black shoes. But he looks tired, a man with a lot on his plate. “Of course I am stressed. Wouldn’t you be?” he sighs.

So what’s gone wrong? Lohmann takes two hours to explain...

Personal allegations

Damaging allegations about Lohmann’s private life have been strewn all over the German press in recent weeks. These include claims he led a lavish lifestyle with the money of his investors, purchasing several expensive cars and a private jet. It has also been alleged that he transferred sums of money to South America, and that he is currently in the process of obtaining two new South American passports, for himself and his father, Uwe (who founded ACI).

“Nonsense,” he says, claiming that the allegations are the work of a German website, gomopa.net, which has its own agenda.

“I don’t have a private jet for €17m and my father never needed to cancel an order for a private jet anywhere in the world. After this nonsense was cleared up, the next idea was that I have purchased six Bentley Continental GTs, each for €200,000 ($277,893) so I could have one for each working day. This isn’t true, you can go to the RTA [Roads Transport Authority] and check for yourself.”

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