Ivanka Trump’s former jewelry firm now caught up in suspected fraud scheme

Trump ended his relationship with Lax late last year and, according to the Trump Organization, Lax still owed him money in August. Meanwhile, the defunct diamond line is embroiled in legal proceedings like this latest Dubai case, which alleges a plot by the family of prominent Emirati oil traders named the Al-Saris.

Ten years ago, Al-Saris controlled a multibillion-dollar oil trading empire, but then went through a rough patch, seemingly mired in legal battles over unpaid bills and sanctions imposed in 2012 on it. family business, FAL Oil, for selling oil to Iran.

Apparently strapped for cash, the Al-Saris are said to have borrowed more than $ 100 million from the Commercial Bank of Dubai. They defaulted on debt and, according to court documents, hid their assets in a network of shell companies, through which they bought diamonds and real estate in Las Vegas. In addition to Ivanka’s line, the bank – which filed a fraud complaint in 2014 – says that Al-Saris bought diamonds from Jacob Arabo – better known as “Jacob the Jeweler” – in the same goal. As “Jacob the Jeweler”, Arabo rose to fame as a celebrity diamond dealer (he was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2008 for lying to investigators about the “Black Mafia Family” drug trafficking ring. From Detroit).

In this new case, the Commercial Bank of Dubai did not accuse the jewelry line or Arabo of any fault. Arabo’s company did not respond to requests for comment, nor did FAL Oil, the Al-Sari-owned company at the center of the dispute. Lawyers for Bank of Dubai, represented in New York by Mayer Brown LLP, declined to comment.

Josh Raffel, a White House spokesman who responds to inquiries regarding Ivanka, did not respond to questions regarding the summons request. Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, initially did not respond to requests for comment. After the publication of this article, Garten wrote in an email that because Ivanka Trump’s holding company severed ties with Madison Avenue Diamonds, no one in his company or at the Trump Organization is aware of the summons or any related event.

The jewelry company’s subpoena attempt has so far escaped public attention, possibly in part because court documents only mention “Madison Avenue Diamonds” – the legal entity that was registered. to do business as “Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry” – and do not mention Trump’s Name. Although Trump has since cut all ties to Madison Avenue Diamonds, the timeline of the underlying case suggests any alleged transactions took place while the company was still doing business as Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry.

From a practical standpoint, such a summons request – from the Commercial Bank of Dubai – now potentially injects the First Family’s business connections into a vicious legal struggle between powerful actors in the Arab world at a time when the Trumps are also using the power of the presidency to influence the region.

In recent months, Trump’s father, President Donald Trump, and her husband, fellow White House adviser Kushner, have aggressively embarked on a civil war in the Arab world. In June, shortly after a trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump approved a move by the Saudis, Emiratis and others to block Qatar even as its own state and defense departments adopted a more conciliatory tone.

In this case, the Commercial Bank of Dubai – which was created by royal decree and remains partly owned by the UAE government – applied for a subpoena at around the same time.

Then, in August, a judge authorized the bank to issue a subpoena to the jewelry company. According to Lax, who, along with his wife, chairs Madison Avenue Diamonds, the bank has yet to serve one.

In an email, Ivanka Trump’s former business partner Moshe Lax said any possible business relationship with the Al-Saris was limited to a single retail transaction. “Maybe they bought some fashion jewelry from our old shop,” he wrote. “We will fully comply with verifying and providing any information the court may ask of us.”

Ben Schreckinger is GQ Washington DC correspondent