Trapped: A Couple's Five Years of Hell in Dubai

by Lee, M

  Tony invited us to stay at his place and after work that evening Justin and his family came around for a BBQ. The adults caught up and the kids splashed in the pool. It was a great night and Julie and I finally started to really relax. However that all changed the following day when her phone rang: it was the pet export people. Julie went into another room to take the call, and when she hadn’t come out after a few minutes I went in to check on her. Dudley hadn’t passed one of his health tests needed for him to be admitted to Australia. There was just no end to the misery Dubai could wreak on us.

  JULIE

  Australia is clear of diseases that are endemic in some parts of the world, and so it has strict rules for bringing pets in, especially from regions like the Middle East. We knew this and despite the expense we had religiously maintained Dudley’s vaccination program. Keeping his ‘vaccination passport’ up to date was crucial to getting him home.

  I couldn’t believe it when we got the call. Marcus and I both welled up as I told him that Dudley had failed the Ehrlichia test indicating that he might have had a tick at some stage. We had never seen one on him and he had never shown any of the symptoms, but until he passed this test Dudley wasn’t going to be coming to Australia. He would go on a two-week course of antibiotics, after which he could be re-tested. The blood to be tested had to be sent to London, and that could take a further two weeks. Only then would we know if he was going to be allowed in. By email, Max the vet who treated him warned me that he had treated other dogs who had taken months of re-testing before they were cleared.

  We knew a number of Australians — some of them involved in the case against Marcus — who had simply abandoned their pets when they left Dubai. There was no way we would ever do that. But that meant only one thing. I would have to go back. The thought of it made me feel sick, but one of us had to go and we could not risk it being Marcus. Holding back tears we put together a plan. I would fly from Perth to Dubai, try to find a place to stay, administer the course of antibiotics, arrange for testing and if all went well bring Dudley back with me in four weeks’ time.

  The past few weeks had been the happiest we’d been for five years but now Dubai had us in its grasp again. We told our friends what was happening and I got on the phone to Emirates and booked a seat on a flight that left less than twelve hours later.

  MARCUS

  Tony and I took Julie to the airport the next day. I called John in Brisbane and could hear the disbelief in his voice as I explained what was happening. I went as far through as I could with Julie, then we hugged and said goodbye, tears running down our faces. I felt so helpless having to let her go like that. I said I didn’t know what I would do while she was away. Just before she went through the departure gate Julie said to me, ‘Learn to be Australian again.’

  That evening, talking to Justin and Tony about it, I said I wished it was me who had gone to spare Julie, or accompanied her. They said, ‘We would have dive-tackled you if you even thought about it.’

  The whole thing was painful enough, but there was an extra twist of the knife in the fact that Julie and I would be apart for both of our birthdays. At the very beginning of our ordeal our plans to celebrate my fortieth birthday in Paris had been scuttled and I had marked the day in solitary. In just a week’s time I would be 45 and Julie would be turning 50 a week after that. Once again we would be separated.

  We’d felt free on our return to speak freely about our experiences without having to worry about what the Dubai authorities might do to us. Suddenly that was a very real fear again. If they realised Julie was back in the emirate, who knew how they might react. She had never been accused of any crime, but it was such a capricious, unjust place that anything could happen. We’d have to make sure the media didn’t get wind of her return.

  Ten hours later Julie texted me — she had arrived and passed through the passport check at Dubai airport unhindered.

  JULIE

  The original plan had been to try to get a furnished apartment for a month, but the Dubai property market had reinflated and the rental market was once again a nightmare. I couldn’t go through all that again so I was very grateful when Laura, a friend who had an apartment at the marina, agreed to let me stay with her — though I insisted on paying rent. It was only a tiny one-bedroom place, so she set up an inflatable mattress in the living room. The next day I collected Dudley from the kennels and settled into his daily treatment. Being in Dubai brought back all the old dread, but I tried to just concentrate on Dudley and the task at hand.

  A few days after we had arrived in Australia and had started to come down from that high, I realised that I might never see the wonderful people I had worked with again. As I had said at my work farewell, ‘Work and the people here were my sanctuary and my sanity through the nightmare’. I don’t know if I would have survived without them. So there was an upside: it was fantastic spending time with Laura and others who had so often heard me out while I ranted about Sunland, the courts, the Joyces, Nassar and the media.

  MARCUS

  After a few more days in Perth I flew back east to set up our new home. Rosemary had kindly offered to let us stay at a reduced rent in a house she owned on the Gold Coast and I wanted to get things ready for Julie’s return. In a minor miracle, the shipping container with all our things arrived unscathed not long after I got back to Queensland.

  Before we had returned to Australia I’d learned of some legal awards for which John was eligible and I’d nominated him for the work he had done on my case. Quite rightly, he won them both: the Australian Lawyers’ Alliance Queensland Civil Justice Award and the 2014 Queensland Law Society’s President’s Medal, the state’s highest legal honour. The latter was to be presented at a black-tie dinner at a hotel in Brisbane on my birthday, 21 February. I stayed at the hotel that night, and when I went to my room I found flowers Julie had sent me, with a loving note. That meant the world to me and reminded me of the poems and messages of hope from her that had kept me going through my worst moments.

  I cheered on behalf of both of us at the end of John’s fine speech in which he thanked his children ‘for constantly questioning me about Marcus and in so doing providing me with the opportunity to teach them that there are things in this world which are more important than money and that sometimes the good guys (like Marcus Lee) come out on top’.

  Ten days later, it was Julie’s turn for birthday flowers. It was hard not to be with her, but I was glad to hear she was being taken out to dinner by friends.

  JULIE

  I took the opportunity to catch up with more of my old work friends and it was great. We had a quiet dinner for my fiftieth birthday, but I didn’t really feel like celebrating. I still wasn’t out of Dubai yet.

  The two weeks of treatment had passed. Dudley had been re-tested and the blood had been sent off to London. It was mid-March and I was expecting the results any time. Marcus and I Skyped each day and he emailed me photos of the home he was setting up for my return.

  When I got the call from Lindsey I was prepared for the worst. So when she said Dudley passed, all I could say was, ‘Bloody awesome!’ A week later, after another vet visit to get all the paperwork signed and stamped, they came to pick Dudley up and took him away in his bright red-and-yellow transport box. The following day I flew out, bound for Brisbane. This time, I thought, it really is for the last time. There is nothing on earth that could bring me back to Dubai now.

  Marcus came to pick me up at the airport, bringing me a bunch of roses. It felt much longer than four weeks we’d been apart. We had a very happy reunion, but a very quiet one in contrast to our arrival in Sydney two months earlier.

  MARCUS

  Dudley flew to Sydney and was taken straight to the quarantine facility at Eastern Creek. The day before he was due to be released, Julie and I drove down and stayed at Bet’s house overnight, then Wayne and my mum collected us for the long drive out there.

  We stood in front of the centre’s large steel gates along with
other couples waiting to collect their pets, like anxious parents waiting outside kindergarten after the first day of school. When a uniformed woman came out said, ‘Are there people here to collect Dudley?’ Julie and I were so eager we ran forward. She took us inside to where he was waiting. Just as I had done when I got out of jail, I called his name. This time he recognised me straightaway and rushed forward to where Julie and I stood. Together we picked him up and held him.

  We had done it. We had survived. We were free, we were together, and we were home at last.

  PHOTO SECTION

  Flashdance: Julie (third from the left) on a dance tour in South Korea, 1986.

  In the days of stonewash denim: at Jupiter’s Casino, Gold Coast — not long after we moved to Queensland, 1988.

  Me finishing the Australian Ironman Triathlon at Forster NSW, 1997. I placed 168 out of 1500 — with a time of 10.08 hours.

  The extravagance that was Palm Jumeirah as seen from the air.

  {Photo by Commander Leroy Chiao (NASA website), via Wikimedia Commons}

  Closer up, an entirely artificially created island. This was the only major land reclamation project, of the five launched, that Nakheel ever completed.

  {Photo by Alexander Heilner, via Wikimedia Commons}

  The largest construction project in the world: Dubai Waterfront in full swing in 2008 — the whole development site was 14,000 hectares. In the foreground you can see the start of an eight-kilometre canal.

  Better times: with Matt (far left) and Ange Joyce (holding the camera) and co-workers Joe Scarf and Lisa Kolnac, at an AFL exhibition match held at Ghantoot Stadium, Dubai, 2008.

  In Italy, 2008. Julie smuggled a photo of us in one of our favourite Italian spots to me in prison, to help me focus on getting out.

  Me with my good friend and colleague Justin, just before Kylie Minogue’s concert, 2008. Prior to her public performance, Kylie had made a private appearance at the launch party for Nakheel’s latest luxury hotel and resort, reportedly at a fee of USD2 million.

  My stepfather and mother, Allan and Carol, on a trip to the UAE in 2008. This was the last time I would see Allan in person; he died of cancer in 2010 while I was still trapped in Dubai.

  Indrani (far right) came to live with us in 2008 — we grew so close that she became like family to us. Indrani had had to leave her own family behind in Sri Lanka in order to come and work in Dubai, so we would arrange for her son, Melinde (far left), to fly over and visit her. This photo was taken on one of these visits, in 2013.

  Celebrating Christmas with fellow Australians and Indrani a mere month before my arrest. My colleague Tony and his wife, Ali (sitting either side of Julie), were there for the good times, and the bad.

  Julie giving a speech at her mother’s 80th birthday on the day of my arrest in Dubai, 2009. Despite not knowing where I was or what had happened to me, she managed to keep it together not wanting to spoil her mother’s big day. In the foreground are my parents, Carol and Allan, who had no idea of the situation.

  The effects of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC): an abandoned car collects dust. Because defaulting on debts was such a serious crime in Dubai, many expats fled, leaving their possessions and homes behind. These abandoned cars were a common sight in Dubai; some remained unmoved and unclaimed for several years.

  My brother Wayne standing in the street of a derelict development, 2009. Many of these developments became wastelands after the GFC.

  A secret photo taken by Julie on her phone, showing the jail with me and Matt in the far distance being led away to the cells after another court hearing, 2009.

  At Port Rashid Jail, April 2009, looking a little worse for wear. I was just starting to recover from severe pneumonia – if it weren’t for Julie, who got me antibiotics, I don’t think I would have survived.

  I drew this plan of ‘Central’, Al Aweer, to give Julie an idea of where I spent my days. I also drew a plan of solitary from guesswork, as I had no way of knowing what the real layout was.

  The poem Julie wrote for me to keep my hopes alive while I was held in solitary confinement, February 2009. I wrapped it in a plastic soap wrapper to protect it and I still carry it with me.

  The first flower on Indrani’s tree of hope bloomed in 2009. It was a badly needed signal that things might eventually get better for us.

  Indrani would tie Buddhist prayer bands on our arm as a totem. We also carried key ring pendants of the Indian god Lord Ganesh for protection.

  Other items that Julie smuggled to me in prison, including inspirational poems and Buddhist prayers. These kept me going through my worst moments.

  Free — sort of. Giving Wayne a hug as I leave prison after nine months in three different, equally horrific jails. I had lost 15 kilograms from illness, poor food and stress.

  With Julie, Karen and our dog Dudley, who didn’t recognise me at first — at home on the evening of my release on bail. I thought I’d want to celebrate, but both Julie and I were completely exhausted from the ordeal.

  Julie getting her passport back four years after it was confiscated as part of my strict bail conditions, 2013.

  With my Emirati lawyer, Ali Al Shamsi, and my passport. In late December 2013, Dubai prosecution had decided not to appeal to the UAE High Court, trying to overturn my two acquittals. The case was finally over.

  My Australian lawyer John Sneddon, Julie and me enjoying a beer on the day we got back to Sydney, January 2014.

  Having a celebratory lunch with our friends Joe (far left) and Rod in Sydney. Rod and Joe, who had both worked with me at Nakheel, remained loyal friends throughout while many others turned their backs.

  Filming with Eric Campbell, from ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, and my close friend Rosemary, on the Gold Coast, 2014.

  Together at last: Julie, Dudley and I share a sunny moment after Dudley’s release from quarantine, March 2014. Julie had gone back to Dubai to ensure that Dudley, too, came home.

  APPENDIX

  For those people (law students? ASIC regulators? insomniacs?) who would like to read the full judgement in the Australian civil case launched by Sunland it is available here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSC/2012/239.html#fnB1215

  Below are a number of extracts from the case heard by Justice Clyde Croft and formally identified as Sunland Waterfront (BVI) Ltd & Anor v Prudentia Investments Pty Ltd & Ors (No 2) [2012] VSC 239 (8 June 2012). The extracts also briefly explain the facts and the contentions of the parties as well as the outcome — note, the paragraph numbers are taken from the judgement:

  10. In general terms, Sunland alleges that during 2007, [Angus] Reed, a director of Prudentia and Hanley, and [Matthew] Joyce, the managing director of DWF, either as principal or as a ‘party involved’, made various representations concerning Plot D17. In reliance on the representations, it is alleged that SWB entered into an agreement with Prudentia which materially provided for the payment of a ‘consultancy fee’ of AED44 million in consideration for which Prudentia agreed to transfer its right to negotiate and enter into a plot sale and purchase agreement with DWF for the acquisition of Plot D17 (‘the Prudentia Agreement’). Some time later, following a decision by Prudentia to incorporate a subsidiary, Hanley, ‘as part of expanding its business into Asia’, SWB came to discharge its agreement with Prudentia and enter into a fresh agreement with Hanley (‘the Hanley Agreement’). On 26 September 2007, SWB signed a sale and purchase agreement with DWF for the purchase of Plot D17 for a price of AED 120 per square foot. On 1 October 2007, Sunland authorised the release of a cheque payable to Hanley in the sum of AED 44,105,780 which Hanley then negotiated to its credit. Reed is alleged to have been an agent of Hanley, who was seized with the knowledge of the representations and their falsity.

  24. . . . it was submitted on behalf of Joyce that in order to succeed in this case Sunland must establish against some or all of these parties that:

  (a) there were representations to the effect that Reed or Prudentia had a contractual right to
acquire Plot D17;

  (b) the representations were false because neither Reed nor Prudentia held a contractual right to acquire Plot D17; and

  (c) Sunland had a state of mind, induced by those representations, that Reed or Prudentia had a contractual right to acquire Plot D17.

  44. . . . In my opinion, it would be absurd to suggest that Sunland, [David] Brown or [Soheil] Abedian, were not sophisticated participants in property development in Dubai or that they were unfamiliar with the process of development and purchase of development plots. Additionally, there is nothing in the evidence to suggest that legal advice of a well-informed and sophisticated kind was not available to them, whether from Sunland’s corporate counsel or private law firms in Dubai — or Australia for that matter, depending upon relevant expertise. There is also nothing in the evidence to indicate that Sunland, through its officers and legal advisers, was in any way precluded from making inquiries of senior officials of Nakheel or DWF. In fact, as is discussed in more detail below, the evidence is that there were a number of discussions, and, by inference, ample opportunity for discussions, with senior legal and other officers of these entities who would be in a position to provide detailed information as to the state of proprietorship and contractual arrangements (if any) with respect to Plot D17.