On February 10, 2025, a Dubai court sentenced Abdulrahman Bashar, a Nigerian billionaire and owner of Rahmaniya Filling Station and Ultimate Oil and Gas, to a one-year jail term over financial crimes. According to Premium Times, Bashar was found guilty of issuing seven cheques with a combined value of 126.45 million dirhams from an Emirates Islamic Bank account, which had mismatched signatures. The court proceedings led by Judge Hussein Hamdi revealed that Bashar deliberately signed the cheques in a manner that prevented their cashing, as evidenced by the statements from Jamal Awad Nasser Hussein and the cheques presented.
This is not Bashar’s first conviction for financial misconduct. In 2020, the England and Wales High Court sentenced him to ten months for defying court orders in a case initiated by Sahara Energy Resources, resulting in a £500,000 fine for Rahmaniya and a £10,000 penalty for its manager, Adebowale Aderemi.
The latest verdict underscores the continued legal challenges faced by Bashar and his businesses, while his company has yet to comment on the recent jail term.
