IslamicFinance.de

In Toronto the trial begins for Omar Kalair, accused of pocketing millions in 'Shariah-compliant' mortgages. The businessman not only pocketed millions in fraudulent mortgages, he also purchased over $2 million in gold and silver bullion. Kalair was helped by Yusuf Panchbhaya, the chairman of a board of religious advisers who issued fatwas sanctioning the businesses mortgages as Islamic. Kalair and Panchbhaya have both pleaded not guilty to the charges which include theft over $5,000, fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime. While technically interest-free, Kalair charged a fee to his clients at a sum higher than what borrowers would usually pay at market rates. Kalair first disappeared, then turned himself in in March 2014. The precious metals would end up in the hands of Joseph Adam who was designated by Panchbhaya as the Shariah board's manager of finance. Panchbhaya returned the silver to the court, but almost $2 million in gold is still missing. If convicted, the pair could face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Civil proceedings against former UM Financial CEO Omar Kalair and his associates have come to a close since prospects for recovery of expropriated money are limited even in case of a favorable judgment. However, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy are still investigating the events which may lead to criminal charges against Kalair and others.

A man named Omar Kalair was told to rendezvous in the dead of the night in a deserted suburban parking lot and hand over a consignment of gold and silver bullion to achieve recognition on the debts of a secretive organization.
The bizarre payment of $2.1m in gold and silver made by Kalair to Joseph Adam, the finance manager of the newly formed firm Multicultural Consultancy Canada, was for Shari’ah compliance services the MCC supplied to the Canadian Islamic mortgage company.
Kalair and Mufti Yusuf Panchbhaya, chairman of this local Shari’ah board, were deposed by the receiver Grant Thornton to explain the transfer of gold and silver to Adam outside a suburban drug store in early October, three days before the court ordered UM Financial Inc into receivership. A month later, the gold had disappeared and Adam had flown Canada for Egypt. The receiver tries now to get permission from the court to enter Adam’s store, with assistance from the sheriff in order to recover the missing gold.

UM Group has discredited rumors of bankruptcy.
Omar Kalair, UM Group's CEO, stated that the bankruptcy rumors were due to "confusion" around the winding up of one of its affiliated companies, UM Financial Inc. He added that other UM companies "continue with business as usual."

UM Financial is planning an extensive launch of its ifreedomplus Mastercard within the next quarter.
CEO Omar Kalair stated that once the product was launched in Canada, UM Financial would expand into the European Union with the same product.

The growing demand for securities that meet Islamic religious principles may lead Canadian governments and companies to start issuing Shariah bonds.
HSBC Bank Canada may offer $500 million and three government-related borrowers from one Canadian province may issue $1.5 billion of sukuk, Omar Kalair, chief executive officer of Toronto-based UM Financial, said in an Oct. 14 interview. A “handful” of Canadian companies may sell C$1 billion ($980 million) of Islamic debt by 2013, said Daud Vicary Abdullah, global Islamic finance leader at Deloitte Corporate Advisory Services Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur.
Egypt, Nigeria, the Philippines and Thailand have announced plans to sell their first sukuk in the past three months, partly to tap Persian Gulf oil wealth.