Former Crédit Agricole Senior Executive Retains HHR in NY Court Case

November 2022 - A former senior executive of Crédit Agricole’s Dubai branch, imprisoned in Dubai for the last two years without being charged, has retained the firm to represent him in defending a civil action recently filed in New York State Supreme Court alleging his theft of over $50 million from two Dubai entities.

In August 2022, Dubai-based Astra Global DMCC, and its affiliate Astra Investments Ltd. (Astra), sued Iyer Narayan, a former Crédit Agricole bank manager in Dubai, for fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment and constructive trust, alleging that Narayan secretly pilfered money from their accounts over the course of a decade, and used those funds to buy the Chatwal Hotel in midtown Manhattan and over 2,000 acres of undeveloped land in Bethel, NY. Narayan, who has been confined in a Dubai prison on Astra’s authority, tapped HHR to represent him in defending the New York action.

Narayan’s answer to the complaint is due Nov. 15. The case is in its infancy but has already required HHR lawyers to fly to Dubai to interview Narayan and coordinate with his Dubai and UK counsel.

Ed Little leads the HHR team and is assisted by Dan Weiner, Eric Blumenfeld and Kiran Rosenkilde.