GOLD AE | detainedindubai

While Canadian citizen Andre Gauthier sits in a Dubai jail, inexplicably charged with the fraud he was instrumental in uncovering at Gold AE, once the UAE’s most prominent gold investment company; the alleged architect of the scam, Mohammed Abu Alhaj, has been allowed to replicate a similar investment scheme in Canada with a new business, and using a new name; potentially defrauding yet more unsuspecting investors, including the Canadian government.

Now going by the name Mohammed Abdel Mohammed, the former director of Gold AE escaped prosecution in the UAE when he fled to Canada as soon as the scam was discovered by Andre Gauthier back in 2014. He was provided a letter by former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien vouching for his character, and subsequently co-founded silver blockchain company Canndollar. A number of Canndollar investors and employees have recently filed criminal complaints against Mr. Mohammed, AKA Abu Alhaj, with the Financial Crimes section of the RCMP for alleged fraudulent activities.

It appears that Gold AE was not the first dubious investment scheme Alhaj was involved in, having headed a company in Dubai called Orion Overseas Holding between 2004–2009 which also fell into scandal and insolvency with millions of investors’ dollars lost.

Originally published at https://www.detainedindubai.org.