A court in Dubai has sentenced Abdulrahman Bashar, the owner of Rahamaniyya Group and Ultimate Oil & Gas, to one year in prison over a financial crime linked to his dealings with CI Energy Company, an oil and gas firm.
This marks the second time in five years that the Nigerian businessman has been jailed, following a previous ten-month sentence handed down by a UK court in 2020.
Court Verdict
According to court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) court delivered its ruling on January 30, 2025, even though 48-year-old Bashar failed to appear in court despite being notified.
The UAE public prosecution charged him with issuing seven cheques totaling 126.45 million dirhams from an Emirates Islamic Bank account. The cheques were dishonored due to a signature mismatch.
The prosecution argued that the businessman intentionally signed the cheques in a manner that made them impossible to cash. They requested the court to punish him according to UAE financial laws.
During the proceedings led by Judge Hussein Hamdi, the court ruled:
“It is established that the crime of issuing a cheque is realised merely by giving the cheque to the beneficiary knowing that there is no balance available for withdrawal.”
Based on the evidence presented, including statements from Jamal Awad Nasser Hussein, an agent of CI Energy, as well as cheque duplicates and bank statements, the court found Bashar guilty.
“The court sees from the examination of the documents that the incident within the scope of what it has extracted in the aforementioned manner is sufficiently established against the accused to convict him.”
It noted that Bashar’s defense attempted to discredit the evidence but failed to convince the court. His denial of the charges was seen as a tactic to escape punishment.
To avoid delays, the court transferred a related civil compensation case to a separate civil court for further investigation.
Previous Conviction in the UK
In February 2020, the High Court of England and Wales sentenced Bashar to ten months in jail for disobeying multiple court orders in a case involving Sahara Energy Resources.
Justice Butcher, who delivered the verdict, stated:
“The basis of the sentence was that Mr Bashar had committed continuing breaches of the order of Mr Justice Robin Knowles of 1 August 2019 and of the order of Mr Justice Bryan of 6 September 2019.”
The orders required Rahamaniyya Oil & Gas to supply 6,400.49 metric tonnes of gas to Sahara Energy or its agent. However, Bashar failed to comply, preventing the release of the gas from the terminal.
The UK court had indicated that his jail term could be reduced to six months if he eventually obeyed the order. Additionally, Rahamaniyya Group was fined £500,000, while its manager, Adebowale Aderemi, was fined £10,000.
Who is Abdulrahman Bashar?
Abdulrahman Bashar is the chairman of Ultimate Oil & Gas DMCC and the MD/CEO of Rahamaniyya Group of Companies, Nigeria. His businesses are involved in the trading, supply, and distribution of African crude oil and petroleum products across Africa, Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East.
According to his company website:
“Through Rahamaniyya Group, Alhaji Abdulrahman Bashar directs a diversified conglomerate across various sectors, leveraging his experience in oil and gas exploration, petroleum marketing, and haulage.”
With his latest conviction in Dubai, his business reputation now faces another major blow.
