Khadem Abdullah al-Qubaisi ( ar, خادم عبد الله القبيسي; born September 27, 1971) is an
Emirati businessman and the former managing director of the
International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC). In 2015, he was replaced as managing director of IPIC and later investigated in a
series of probes into misappropriated funds in connection with
1Malaysia Development Berhad
1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB; ) is an insolvent Malaysian strategic development company, wholly owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated).
1MDB was established to drive strategic initiatives for long-term economic development ...
. He was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2016 as part of investigations into the
1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, describes a corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) w ...
. In 2019, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption and money laundering.
Life and education
Qubaisi was born in
Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
in 1971. He graduated from the
University of the United Arab Emirates with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in economics in 1993.
He is married, and has four children.
Career
In 1993, after graduating from university, Qubaisi joined the
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where he went on to become a senior financial analyst in the North American Equities Department. In 2000, he became an investment manager at International Petroleum Investment Company. In May 2007, he became managing director, and in 2011, he took the additional position as chairman of IPIC's subsidiary,
Compañía Española de Petróleos
Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A.U. (''Spanish Petroleum Company''), commonly known as Cepsa, is a Spanish multinational oil and gas company. It operates in several European countries as well as in Algeria, Canada, Colombia, Morocco, Braz ...
.
He was chairman of many other companies including
NOVA Chemicals
NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a Canadian petrochemical company that has been in operation since 1954. NOVA was formed as provincial crown corporation called the Alberta Gas Trunk Line Company Limited to manage Alberta's natural gas collection sy ...
,
Arabtec
Arabtec Holding PJSC, was Dubai's most heavily traded and largest construction group in GCC, together with its subsidiaries, provided construction services for residential, commercial, oil and gas, infrastructure, power, facilities management, and ...
,
Borealis AG
Borealis AG is an Austrian chemical company and is the world's eighth largest producer of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
Overview
Borealis is an international provider of polyolefins, base ...
and
OMV
OMV (formerly abbreviation for Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung Aktiengesellschaft ('' en, Austrian Mineral Oil Administration Stock Company'')) is an Austrian multinational integrated oil, gas and petrochemical company which is headquart ...
(in both of which IPIC owns a
controlling interest
A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the major ...
),
Aabar Investments
Mubadala Investment Company PJSC ( ar, شركة مبادلة للاستثمار), or simply Mubadala, is an Emirati state-owned holding company that acts as a sovereign wealth fund. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Dev ...
(an IPIC subsidiary), Falcon Private Bank,
Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company, and
Hakkasan Group. He was the director of Tasameem Real Estate Co. LLC, the investment company of Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 21 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati politician who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab ...
, who is a deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and chairman of IPIC.
Qubaisi also served on the board of Bahrain's First Energy Bank.
During his time at IPIC, Qubaisi was involved in several major deals, including the
2008 bailout of
Barclays.
In April 2015, Qubaisi was removed from his role as managing director of the International Petroleum Investment Company. He resigned from or was replaced in his other positions in the following months.
Controversy
Qubaisi was replaced as managing director of the International Petroleum Investment Company in April 2015. Following his dismissal from IPIC, he resigned or was replaced from most of his corporate roles in companies controlled by IPIC. In September of that year, a Malaysian investigative website
Sarawak Report linked his dismissal to corruption allegations stemming from transactions IPIC undertook with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a strategic development company that became the subject of controversy when Malaysia's prime minister was accused of using it to siphon money into his personal bank accounts.
In 2015, IPIC had given 1MDB $1 billion, and taken on $3.5 billion of their debt in return for some of 1MDB's assets.
In April 2016,
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
reported that the United Arab Emirates central bank had ordered banks in the UAE to freeze and provide transaction information on bank accounts belonging to Qubaisi or Mohamed al-Husseiny, another IPIC senior official. Officials investigating misappropriated funds in connection with 1MDB said that a total of $2.4 billion that was intended to be transferred from 1MDB to Aabar Investments was instead sent to a different company, established in the
British Virgin Islands
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by Qubaisi and al-Husseiny, called Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. This company is under investigation by the United Arab Emirates to determine if it was used as a conduit for 1MDB funds.
On 20 July 2016, United States federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit to seize over $1 billion in assets believed to have been stolen from 1MDB. Qubaisi was named in these lawsuits, along with al-Husseiny and several others, which added that the funds were used to purchase these assets as well as "fund the co-conspirators' lavish lifestyles." This lawsuit is noted to be the largest forfeiture complaint filed in United States history.
In 2019, the
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
reported that Qubaisi was being forced by the Emirati authorities to give away his assets to Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 21 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati politician who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab ...
's privately owned company. Post his arrest, in an interview, Qubaisi said he was being blamed as a “scapegoat” by Sheikh Mansour. “I did this deal but I did it on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi. They are putting everything on my back,” said Qubaisi.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qubaisi, Khadem
Living people
People from Abu Dhabi
Emirati businesspeople
1971 births
United Arab Emirates University alumni