After a number of promises made by the senior management of Fortress Prime, the Dubai based prime Clearing unit of Fortress Capital Investments, clients of the company continue to be left empty-handed. The worries of customers of the company regarding their money continues to rise, while some of the brokers using Fortress are on the verge of closing down their business.
In the final days of last year, the Executive Manager of Fortress Prime, Mustafa Gamaleldin, expressed in a response to questions from Finance Magnates that the company’s clients should be able to receive their funds in the first week of 2016. This has turned into yet another delay, with clients who have been handed checks for the 10th of January being told that they won't be able to cash those in.
As a result of the unending delays, numerous clients have threatened to file lawsuits against the firm and some of the firm’s biggest customers have made trips to Dubai in order to ascertain the situation first hand.
Fortress Prime is part of the operations of another company, named Fortress Capital Investments. It is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) registered with the Dubai Department of Economic Development, listing on its website a number of executives.
Together with the CEO of Fortress Prime, Mitch Eaglstein, who is also listed as Head of Dubai Prime Clearing, are also the names of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Sultan Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan who’s listed as Chairman of the Board, and Board Member Ali Jumma Al Alawi.
The company states on its website that it is providing private equity investment management services, with Haytham Abou El Nasr leading the effort. Fortress Prime officially states on its website that it is a division of Fortress Capital Investments.
Clients of Fortress Prime were handed new checks with a cash-in date of the 10th of January, and they have now been contacted by representatives of the firm telling them that they will not be able to receive any funds. The firm has once more provided a new date for its customers, resulting in another two weeks' delay.
With the complications for legal action against the firm being limited due to its Dubai domicile, a number of clients have no means to take any action against the company. For many the costs of running a legal battle in a foreign country such as Dubai outweigh the benefits of potentially recovering deposits.
For the purposes of this article, Finance Magnates reporters have once more contacted the senior management of Fortress Prime, however at the time of publication, the company has not responded. The Dubai Department of Economic Development has also failed to provide a response to a media enquiry.
