David Haigh, the former Leeds United chief currently in jail in Dubai, has had his aeets frozen by a high court judge in the UK, it was reported on Wednesday.
Mr Justice Males imposed an asset freezing order on Haigh at a hearing in London, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported.
The paper said the judge was told that Haigh was facing allegations of “false invoice fraud” in criminal and civil proceedings in Dubai.
Haigh, the former managing director of Leeds United, has been in jail in Dubai since he was arrested in May on allegations of embezzling $6.4 million.
The judge reportedly said he was satisfied that Dubai-based GFH Capital, Haigh’s former employer, had a “good arguable case” and said there was evidence of a “risk of a dissipation of assets”.
Lawyers representing a finance company which has taken civil court action applied for a freezing order relating to any assets Haigh owned in England and Wales.
They said he owned a house in Cornwall and was thought to have money in a number of bank accounts.
The judge heard that a similar asset freezing order had already been made by a court in Dubai.
Last month, Haigh hired Stephenson Harwood Middle East, which is a full service international law firm with more than 120 partners and 700 staff worldwide, to represent Haigh and his legal team.
Haigh, who resigned from his Elland Road post in April following Massimo Cellino’s purchase of a 75 percent stake in the club, has been held in a Dubai jail since May 18, amid allegations, which he has denied, of financial irregularities whilst working for GFH Capital.
GFH Capital, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House, launched legal action against Haigh, soon after his arrest when he arrived at the company’s Dubai office on the premise of discussing a new job.
Haigh has also been referred to the Public Prosecution for trial on charges of “embezzlement, swindling and breach of trust”, but to date no criminal charges have been brought against him.
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