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Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

Visiting Twenty Essex: Our London premises welcome guests at No 23 Essex Street. Step-free access is available via Milford Lane, with elevator access to all floors in No 23.

Singapore office: For client enquiries please contact our Head of BD, Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out-of-office-hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

[email protected]
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

[email protected]
t: +65 62257230

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

Visiting Twenty Essex: Our London premises welcome guests at No 23 Essex Street. Step-free access is available via Milford Lane, with elevator access to all floors in No 23.

Singapore office: For client enquiries please contact our Head of BD, Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out-of-office-hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

[email protected]
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

[email protected]
t: +65 62257230

< Back To News
29/09/2025

Cayman court dismisses US$300m fraud and unjust enrichment claim against Abraaj entities

Members of Twenty Essex have successfully represented the Defendants in the dismissal, in its entirety, of a fraud and unjust enrichment claim brought by businessman, Hamid Jafar following an 8-week trial in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Mr Jafar alleged that he had been induced by fraudulent misrepresentations made by Arif Naqvi, the former CEO of the Abraaj Group, to advance a series of loans totalling c. US$300 million to entities within the Group. Stephen Atherton KC, Sarah Tresman, and Patrick Dunn-Walsh represented the Second and Third Defendants, GHF General Partner Ltd and the GHF Group Ltd. Andrew Ayres KC represented the Fourth Defendant, Abraaj General Partner VIII Limited.

Abraaj was an ‘impact investment’ private equity group based in Dubai aimed at providing healthcare to the developing world. The Group collapsed in 2018, as examined in the BBC Panorama programme: “Billion Dollar Downfall: The Dealmaker”.

After the Group’s insolvency, Mr Jafar brought proceedings against various entities within the Group, alleging that fraudulent misrepresentations had been made to him by Mr Naqvi which induced him to enter into the loans, that the misrepresentations were to be attributed to the defendant entities and that, in any event, the defendants were liable to him for unjust enrichment.

After a trial spanning from October to 2023 to January 2024, Justice Segal rejected Mr Jafar’s claims in a substantial judgment running to 938 pages.

Stephen Atherton KC, Sarah Tresman, and Patrick Dunn-Walsh were instructed by Walkers (Cayman) LLP (Matthew Goucke and Shelley White), and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (James Norris-Jones and Naomi Tarawali). Andrew Ayres KC was instructed by Ogier (Cayman) (Jennifer Fox and Rebecca Findlay) and Debevoise and Plimpton (Christopher Boyne).

Full copies of the judgments for Jafar v Abraaj Holdings and others can be found below:

 

Relevant members
Andrew Ayres KC Stephen Atherton KC Sarah Tresman Patrick Dunn-Walsh
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