Abu Dhabi Bank Rejects Charges Made By Casino

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi has rejected allegations against it by a casino in London, vowing it will fight the case in a UK court.

Grosvenor Casinos is pursuing the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) over unpaid gambling debts of about £10 million (Dh68 million) accrued by one of the bank's clients.

A claim lodged in the London High Court says Grosvenor holds the bank responsible for two cheques that were not honoured. They had been used by A.R. to pay for gambling chips.

"The bank will vigorously contest all the allegations. They [Grosvenor] have no case and we are confident we will win 100 per cent. We have won the case once in the court," a spokesman of the bank told Gulf News yesterday.

Responding to a media report, the bank spokesman said some facts have been left out in the report.

"It is completely absurd. The bank will defend its position because the bank does not owe anything to them."

Grosvenor Casinos served a claim on Thursday against NBAD relating to two unpaid cheques presented by the customer A.R. in February 2000.

Grosvenor claims that NBAD verbally cleared these cheques in February 2000.

Grosvenor pursued A.R. for several years but to no avail and last year switched its attention to the bank.

"You cannot hold the bank responsible just because the cheques were drawn on NBAD. It is also not true that the bank verbally cleared the cheques. When there is no balance in the account, how can any bank honour a cheque? It is all nonsense. The bank will fight it out. Grosvenor has no leg to stand on, so they are using the media as a lever," he said.