Dubai: Jose Antonio Lopez-Monis, the chief executive of Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), has been released without any bail or any other conditions following his arrest in Dubai on August 17.
HLG’s parent company, Australia-based Cimic Group, said in a statement to the Australian bourse on Friday confirming that Lopez-Monis had been released.
Cimic Group also announced that Lopez-Monis has not been charged with any offence and HLG’s operations continue as normal.
Cimic Group has a 45 per cent stake in HLG, one of the leading diversified international contractors in the Middle East.
The partnership with Al Habtoor Group, which was struck in 2007, started to deteriorate soon after the global financial crisis in 2008 when some big projects started to go off the rails.
Al Habtoor Group had launched a legal action against Cimic and the joint venture itself — HLG — in July this year, without stating the reason behind the same.
Al Habtoor Group said in a statement to the media in May this year that it has no relationship with Al Habtoor Leighton.
“The Al Habtoor Group LLC officially announces that it has no relationship with the company Al Habtoor Leighton LLC, also known HLG. The Al Habtoor Group LLC’s core focus is on hospitality, automotive and real estate sectors, as well as car rental and education,” the group stated. It further clarified that the construction company Al Habtoor Leighton LLC is “not its subsidiary and that Al Habtoor Group LLC has no role in the day to day operations of HLG.”
