Damas founders treated the jeweller's treasury as a personal account

Damas was the Middle East's largest jeweller by number of stores, a Dubai institution selling gold and diamonds across the Gulf. Its majority owners — the Abdullah brothers Tamjid, Tawfiq and Tawhid — ran the company's treasury much like a personal account.

Between July 2008 and October 2009 the brothers made 2,200 withdrawals from company accounts without board or shareholder consent. The unauthorised deals totalled Dh614 million and included property investments such as a shopping mall in Turkey and about two tonnes of borrowed gold. The Dubai Financial Services Authority ordered the brothers to repay Dh365 million plus the value of 1.94 million grams of gold, fined Damas and its owners more than Dh13.5 million, dismissed the board, and banned the brothers from holding DIFC board seats for 10 years.

The revelations pushed Damas to the brink. With more than 20 lenders, the company entered a payment standstill in 2010 and in 2011 restructured more than Dh3 billion ($817 million) of debt, with Dh1 billion of 'excess indebtedness' rescheduled over six years. Damas survived and returned to profit under imposed governance — a rare case of a company surviving its founders.