A lawyer who was the Managing Director of Leeds United has been arrested in Dubai.
David Haigh is reportedly being held in custody on suspicion of fraud, embezzlement and money-laundering relating to his time at the club. Haigh, who once worked for football-mad DLA Piper, arrived at Elland Road when his employer, Dubai-based investment fund GFH Capital, bought Leeds FC in 2012. Haigh quit the company in April to make his own bid for the club, but failed, and GFH sold it to an interesting fellow from Miami called Massimo Cellino instead. GFH claims that the brevity of its tenure is connected to Haigh's alleged wrongdoing.
Cellino holds the dubious distinction of being the first person to be ruled unfit by the FA to run a football club (though he subsequently had the decision overturned). He is also accusing Haigh of naughtiness, specifically that the accounts Haigh left behind contained unexplained holes. Haigh says he spent the missing cash with the club's knowledge on a CCTV system after allegations surfaced that it was awash with Class A drugs. And served the club with a winding up petition claiming it owes his company almost £1 million in unpaid loans.
Haigh has been in the tender embrace of Dubai's police for four days, but took time out from sessions on his fingernails to claim on Twitter that he was being made a scapegoat. A Foreign Office spokesman said, "Come back David O'Leary, all is forgiven We are aware of the arrest of a British National in Dubai on 18 May 2014. We are providing consular assistance".
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David Haigh is reportedly being held in custody on suspicion of fraud, embezzlement and money-laundering relating to his time at the club. Haigh, who once worked for football-mad DLA Piper, arrived at Elland Road when his employer, Dubai-based investment fund GFH Capital, bought Leeds FC in 2012. Haigh quit the company in April to make his own bid for the club, but failed, and GFH sold it to an interesting fellow from Miami called Massimo Cellino instead. GFH claims that the brevity of its tenure is connected to Haigh's alleged wrongdoing.
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Haigh had a back-up plan, but it required Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Pelé |
Cellino holds the dubious distinction of being the first person to be ruled unfit by the FA to run a football club (though he subsequently had the decision overturned). He is also accusing Haigh of naughtiness, specifically that the accounts Haigh left behind contained unexplained holes. Haigh says he spent the missing cash with the club's knowledge on a CCTV system after allegations surfaced that it was awash with Class A drugs. And served the club with a winding up petition claiming it owes his company almost £1 million in unpaid loans.
Haigh has been in the tender embrace of Dubai's police for four days, but took time out from sessions on his fingernails to claim on Twitter that he was being made a scapegoat. A Foreign Office spokesman said, "
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