Ex-Leeds MD Haigh faces new claim over GFH ‘fraud’

Mr Haigh, who has been in prison in Dubai since May facing claims of “false invoice fraud” by Gulf Finance House, last week issued a 1,581-word statement where he claimed he had been “falsely and wrongly imprisoned”

He said a report by accountancy firm Pricewaterhousecoopers showed there was no evidence he had created fake invoices to illegally divert millions of pounds of funds from GFH.

In a response yesterday, the Dubai-based investment bank said it had sworn witness statements from bank officials showing money from GFH had been transferred into two accounts in Mr Haigh’s name and one in the name of his friend. It said: “These statements therefore remove any doubt that Mr Haigh was in receipt of these funds.”

Mr Haigh said that because his assets had been frozen he had “been forced to default on normal day-to-day commitments as they prevented me from spending even a penny on my living expenses, such as food or medicine” and added that he feared losing his house.

GFH said a transcript from a hearing at the Dubai International Financial Centre court from last month “revealed a very different story” and that Mr Haigh applied unsuccessfully to have his weekly allowance doubled from $2,050 (£1,265) per week.

Mr Haigh, who denies the fraud claims, was arrested on May 18 after he flew to the Middle East for talks about a supposed new position with GFH.

A spokesman for Mr Haigh said: “David continues to maintain his complete innocence of any wrongdoing. He denies all the civil claims made against him.”