Opening a bank account with Mashreq Bank, can prove to be a real nightmare…

Investing or opening a bank account with the Mashreq Bank in Dubai, can be a real nightmare for foreign entrepreneurs, and result in fraud because of the actions of the vice president of business banking and relations manager, Ahmed Bilal Sheikh, at the Sharjah branch, an institution that, despite its long history and the experience that it preaches with its anniversary slogan “50 years doing everything possible”. The only possibility with this banking entity is to be scammed by the same executives who take advantage of the existing discriminatory laws in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and that do not offer any guarantees to investors that decide to deposit their savings in this tax haven.

A year ago, one major client decided to entrust a considerable amount in Euros with Mashreq Bank. In the beginning, the relationship seemed friendly and attentive. However, overnight, without any explanations and without assuming any liability, the bank decided to terminate the business relationship with the investor and close all accounts.

In a suspicious and unilateral manoeuvre, the bank gave the client a scarce seven days to move funds – insufficient time to open another corporate account – without further explanation as to the justification of the contract cancellation.  This client requested to extend the deadline on several occasions and was met with negligence, laziness and narrow-mindedness on the part of Ahmed Bilal Sheikh.

Fighting against the clock, the affected client requested a bank wire transfer, but was informed that this can only be made in AED currency to an account in the United Arab Emirates – not in EUR currency as agreed from the beginning -, or a check must be issued for the full amount in EUR, as the bank arbitrarily modified the terms.

As was to be expected, getting the check was a true nightmare, and after a series of adventures, the cheeky executives changed the terms once again, arguing that the only way to hand over his money – either by check or wire transfer – was in AED currency. The currency exchange on such a large accredited sum also implied a juicy commission, where the only beneficiary would be the dishonest bank and consequently the corrupt official Ahmed Bilal Sheikh. Sheikh, having continually disrespected and ignored the client during this process, cowardly avoided an interview on the subject for some time.

However, the ill-reputed bank employee was only looking for ways to gain time in order to get more money, since a currency exchange transaction would provide a good commission from the bank. His task was to pressure the client into accepting a currency exchange change on the lie that Mashreq Bank would otherwise automatically process the exchange at a much lower and worse exchange rate at the end of the stipulated seven-day deadline.

Once the crooks accomplished the currency exchange, they struck a final blow: they would not allow the client to perform a bank wire transfer; only issue a bankers check in AED currency would be permitted. It was an odyssey onto itself to find a bank in the United Arab Emirates to immediately open an account to deposit the check into.

Perhaps with this type of abuse by institutions such as Mashreq Bank, the financial sector in Dubai is seeking to replicate the crisis of 2008. During this period, large private capital intensified with the expectation of a revaluation of the Dirham against the US Dollar but this prospect was withdrawn abruptly, leading to a subsequent decline in the economic activity of the United Arab Emirates.

These practices are known to be systematic by some bank executives such as Ahmed Bilal Sheikh, who used his position to take advantage of clients. This should be brought to the attention of the head bosses, such as the president Ahmed Yousef or the CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, to end abuse and corruption. Things could get even more complicated. The credit rating agency Standard & Poors (S&P) just recently downgraded its outlook for Mashreq Bank from positive, by confirming the long-term credit range of this bank as BBB.