Third Senior Abraaj Executive Said To Have Been Arrested

A third former Abraaj Group executive has reportedly been arrested in London following the Dubai-based private equity firm's collapse last year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sev Vettivetpillai, a former Abraaj managing partner, has been arrested for extradition to the US and is due to appear in court in London.

Last week, Arif Naqvi, the founder and ex-chief executive officer, was arrested in the UK while Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, a former managing partner, was held in New York.

WSJ reported that Vettivetpillai left Abraaj last year and joined LGT Group, a financial-services company owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein.

It said that at Abraaj, Vettivetpillai was involved with investments across the firm.

WSJ added that Naqvi made a brief appearance in court on Thursday morning and a bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

Founded in 2002, Abraaj grew to become the Middle East’s biggest private equity fund and one of the world’s most influential emerging-market investors, with stakes in healthcare, clean energy, lending and real estate across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Turkey.

But last year Naqvi surrendered control after it was revealed that the firm’s main revenues hadn’t covered operating costs for years.

Abraaj, which managed almost $14 billion, was forced into liquidation in June after a group of investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commissioned an audit to investigate the alleged mismanagement of money in its healthcare fund.