David Haigh, the former Leeds United chief executive currently in jail in Dubai, will next week present a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which his legal advisors believe will “100 percent exonerate” him of allegations of embezzling $6.4 million from his former employers.
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.
Haigh’s legal team at Stephenson Harwood Middle East has commissioned a report from PwC, which will be forwarded to GFH Capital early next week and will be presented at a hearing of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts a few days later, sources told Arabian Business.
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.
In its statement of claim GFH Capital have alleged that while working for the finance company Haigh created a spate of false invoices for third party work that were then paid for into bank accounts operated by him.
A source close to Haigh said the legal team are “100 percent confident” that the PwC report will “completely exonerate” him of the allegations made by GFH Capital. As part of its defence, Haigh’s team at Stephenson Harwood Middle East also hired an independent handwriting expert which has concluded that the signatures on the allegedly false invoices are fakes and are not those of David Haigh.
“The preliminary view is that signatures purported to be those of Mr Haigh are not genuine,” a Haigh spokesperson said last month.
The source also said Haigh was planning to launch a counter claim against GFH Capital for monies owned to him and wrongful imprisonment, once he has proven his innocence and is released from jail.
It is also believed that he is still speaking to two international publishers, with a view to signing a deal to write a book about his experiences.
A spokesperson from GFH Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Arabian Business.
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