A Dubai court has sentenced Abdulrahman Bashar, the owner of Rahamaniyya Group and Ultimate Oil & Gas, to one year in prison for financial misconduct related to his dealings with CI Energy Company, an oil and gas firm.
This marks the second time in less than five years that Bashar has been sentenced to jail. In 2020, a UK court handed him a ten-month sentence for contempt in a separate commercial dispute.
The Dubai court verdict
According to court documents, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) court delivered its ruling on January 30, 2025. Despite being notified, Bashar, 48, failed to appear for trial.
The prosecution charged him with issuing seven cheques totaling 126.45 million dirhams, drawn on an Emirates Islamic Bank account, with discrepancies in his signature. Prosecutors argued that he deliberately drafted and signed the cheques in a manner that ensured they could not be cashed, violating UAE financial laws.
The court, led by Judge Hussein Hamdi, relied on multiple pieces of evidence, including statements from Jamal Awad Nasser Hussein (a representative of CI Energy), duplicates of the cheques, and bank account statements. It determined that the cheques were returned unpaid due to signature mismatches, confirming Bashar’s intent to defraud.
“The crime of issuing a cheque is established once the cheque is given to the beneficiary with the knowledge that there are no sufficient funds for withdrawal,” the court ruled.
The court dismissed Bashar’s defense, which sought to question the validity of the evidence. It also noted that his denial appeared to be a strategy to evade punishment.
To ensure swift justice, the court referred the civil compensation case filed by the prosecution to a competent civil court for further investigation and determination.
Previous legal troubles in the UK
Bashar’s legal troubles extend beyond the UAE. In February 2020, Justice Butcher of the England and Wales High Court sentenced him to ten months in jail for repeatedly defying court orders in a case brought by Sahara Energy Resources.
The orders, issued by Justice Robin Knowles on August 1, 2019, and Justice Bryan on September 6, 2019, required Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas to supply 6,400.49 metric tonnes of gas oil to Sahara Energy Resources or its agent. Bashar, however, refused to comply.
As a result, the UK court found him in contempt. However, the judge indicated that his sentence could be reduced to six months if he complied with the previous court orders.
In addition to Bashar’s sentencing, Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas was fined £500,000, while its manager, Adebowale Aderemi, was ordered to pay a £10,000 penalty.
Who is Abdulrahman Bashar?
Abdulrahman Bashar is a Nigerian businessman and the chairman of Ultimate Oil and Gas DMCC. He is also the managing director and CEO of Rahamaniyya Group of Companies, a conglomerate involved in crude oil trading, petroleum product distribution, and haulage. His business empire spans Africa, Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East, making him one of Nigeria’s notable oil magnates.
Despite his success, his legal troubles in the UK and UAE have cast a shadow over his business reputation.
