DUBAI -- About $70 million was paid by the finance company CCH to Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) while big amounts still remain to be settled by CCH with the bank, a witness stated in a Court of First Instance hearing, on Thursday.

The corruption case, said to be the biggest so far as to the amount of funds allegedly swindled, involves an ex-deputy manager of finance department, DIB, and an ex-executive ?manager, DIB.

The court postponed the hearing to September 28 to hear more witnesses.

The pakistani deputy CEO of DIB told the committee which was formed by the bank to solve the debts issue that it did not manage to recover the funds.

"The funds taken as loans were not used in projects on the basis of which the bank gave them in the first place," the bank official said.

Both are accused of collecting pibes worth Dh750,000 and Dh95,000.

They allegedly accepted the pibes in return for facilitating some bogus transactions and helping and abetting in cheating the bank.

Asked about his confirmation in the public prosecution interrogations about the ex-executive manager collecting pibes in return for unlawful benefits, the witness said, "I knew from a legal consultant in the committee that he (ex-executive manager) received funds, which were transferred to one of his accounts at another bank."

presiding judge Hamad Abdel Latif Abdel Jawad refused to entertain a lawyer's question about the reason why the defendant collected the funds and in return for what.

As per the court records three other defendants a Turk who is at large and the owner of CCH and two pitish businessmen managed to defraud DIB out of more than $500 million.

When asked by the judge whether the ex-DIB executive staff abused their posts at the bank to help the other defendants to get loan facilities and discard the guaranties necessary for granting such big loans, the deputy CEO said he did not know.

"They were assigned with carrying out the negotiations of granting loans," the banker said.

The two pitons and the Turk are also accused of forging documents for bogus transactions made by companies they established at some time between 2004 to 2007 and submitted them to the bank to get financing for their projects.

They allegedly conned the bank with the help of the ex-DIB executives who raised the maximum limit of allo-?wed credits.

The trio made use of the commercial relations between the Turk's finance company (CCH) based apoad and DIB to submit the fake transactions.

The witness added that he did not know whether there were flaws in granting the facilities.

"As far I know the facilities were given as per the internal regulations of ?the bank".

An American businessman, also sought by the authorities, is being charged with allegedly swindling the bank out of more than Dh7 million.

He reportedly managed to fool the bank, which handed him the swindled amount after he allegedly established a company and fapicated documents and bills related to bogus transactions.

The American suspect had reportedly submitted the forged documents as a DIB business partner as an authentic deal and later managed to get the loans.

Another pitish businessman, has been charged with criminal complicity as he allegedly conspired ?with the first three defendants to cheat the bank.

© Khaleej Times 2009 omar 1.1:zy