DIFC — Fraud Recovery & Asset Tracing

Recovering what was taken.
Tracing what was hidden.

Middle East Asset Recovery acts for institutions, family offices, and individuals across the Gulf and internationally, working within a common law framework built for cross-border enforcement.

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FILE REF: MAR / DIFC / OPEN
§ 1

Institutional discretion

Every matter is handled under strict confidentiality, from initial consultation through recovery.

§ 2

Common law reach

Based in the DIFC, operating through English common law, with enforcement pathways into onshore UAE courts and international jurisdictions.

§ 3

Recovery-first mandate

We do not take matters we do not believe can be advanced. Every engagement begins with an honest assessment of recoverability.

Fraud rarely stays in one jurisdiction, and neither do the assets it produces. We combine common law litigation capability with forensic financial tracing and a working knowledge of how structured finance and cross-border transactions are actually put together.

Who we are, and how we work

Archival ledger detail
— placeholder image, replace with licensed or commissioned photography —

Who we are

Middle East Asset Recovery was founded to close a gap in the region: victims of fraud in the Gulf have historically had two options — expensive international counsel with no regional presence, or regional firms without the common law tools and cross-border reach that asset recovery actually requires. We sit deliberately between the two, built on DIFC's common law framework and based where our clients and their disputes originate.

Our approach

We do not pursue matters on the promise of a good story. Before taking on a mandate, we assess whether fraud can be established on the evidence, whether assets exist and can be located, and whether a jurisdiction offers the mechanisms to freeze and recover them. Where any of those is missing, we say so before fees are incurred, not after.

Practice Areas

Four ways fraud reaches us

Tap a matter type for how we approach it, and who it serves.

CF — Corporate & Investment +

Corporate & Investment Fraud

Misrepresented financials, fabricated collateral, and diverted proceeds — fraud dressed up as a failed deal.

  • Forensic review of transaction documentation and representations
  • Freezing orders once fraud is identified
  • Civil recovery against individuals and entities
  • Coordination with regulators where criminal referral applies
DA — Digital Assets +

Crypto & Digital Asset Fraud

Exchange collapses, rug pulls, and wallet compromises — traced faster than the funds can move again.

  • Blockchain forensic tracing through wallets and exchanges
  • Emergency freezing applications against custodians
  • Coordination with international regulators and exchanges
  • Recovery against promoters and platforms
CB — Cross-Border Tracing +

Cross-Border Asset Tracing

For high net worth individuals and families, following assets through structures across multiple jurisdictions at once.

  • Tracing via correspondent counsel in the UK, BVI, Cayman, Switzerland
  • Worldwide freezing orders and disclosure applications
  • Work with forensic accountants on obscured ownership
  • Enforcement via DIFC-Dubai Courts protocols
GN — General Mandates +

General Fraud Recovery

Partnership disputes, management fraud, and schemes that don't sit neatly in one category, where recovery is realistic.

  • Initial recoverability assessment before commitment of resources
  • Strategy combining litigation, investigation, negotiated resolution
  • Introduction to contingency and litigation funding where suited
Our Method

How a recovery mandate runs

The same four stages, in sequence, on every matter we take.

1

Assessment

We review the facts, the evidence available, and the likely location of assets before recommending a course of action.

2

Investigation

Forensic accounting and, where relevant, blockchain analysis to establish where funds have gone and who controls them now.

3

Preservation

Freezing and disclosure orders to prevent further dissipation while the underlying case is built.

4

Recovery

Litigation, negotiated settlement, or enforcement of judgment — whichever gives the client the best realistic outcome.

Matter Index

The shape of a Middle East Asset Recovery file

Confidentiality is part of the work. Here is how a case file is structured, without the details that would identify it.

REF: CF-114DIFC
Client
Counterparty
Assets Frozen Corporate Fraud
REF: DA-062Cross-border
Client
Asset class
Tracing In Progress Digital Assets
REF: CB-031UAE / BVI
Client
Structure
Recovered HNWI
REF: GN-008Qatar / UAE
Client
Matter type
Under Review General Mandate

Illustrative examples of matter types Middle East Asset Recovery is built to handle — not actual client matters.

Team

Litigation & leadership

Mahmoud Al Otaiba
Litigation Partner (DIFC Courts registration in progress)

Mahmoud Al Otaiba

Managing Partner, Middle East and Partners Law Firm

Mahmoud leads Middle East Asset Recovery's litigation and enforcement work before the DIFC Courts. He manages a multi-jurisdictional practice spanning Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, with a focus on complex civil, commercial, and criminal matters, and is an accredited arbitrator at the Qatar Chamber of Commerce.

His background combines courtroom litigation with legislative and regulatory work, including drafting national-level legal frameworks in Qatar and advocacy for depositor recovery following the Lebanese financial crisis. He has spent several years advising UAE-registered practitioners on litigation strategy and is now pursuing his own registration as a DIFC Courts practitioner. He holds an LL.B. with Honours and an LL.M. in Comparative Law from La Sagesse University, an MBA from the American University of Beirut, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Private International Law at the Islamic University of Lebanon.

MK
Founder & Managing Partner (Business Operations)

Mohammed Khalid Al Qasab

Also serves as Board Member & CIO, Alsaama Management Consultancy Services

Mohammed leads Middle East Asset Recovery's business operations and institutional relationships, drawing on more than two decades of board-level experience in venture capital and regional management for high-net-worth and institutional clients across GCC markets.

He also serves as Board Member and Chief Investment Officer at Alsaama Management Consultancy Services, a Dubai-based structured finance intermediary, where his work spans due diligence, deal origination, and institutional financing introductions across the region. He holds an MBA from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Finance from Khalifa University.

Dubai skyline DUBAI, UAE — placeholder image

Matters of this nature start with a confidential conversation.

Reach out to arrange an initial consultation. Every enquiry is treated in strict confidence from the first message.

Speak to us in confidence →
All initial consultations are held in strict confidence.