Canadian man to remain in Dubai prison after appeal partially rejected

Dec 24, 2019 | 8:10 AM

MONTREAL — A Canadian geologist jailed in Dubai on fraud charges he claims are dubious will remain in prison after a judge rejected his appeal on a technicality, according to the man’s son.

Alexis Gauthier says his father Andre has been detained off and on in the Middle East since December 2015 and is appealing his eight-year prison sentence for 73 counts of fraud.

The Gauthier family says Andre was a whistleblower who had alerted authorities in the United Arab Emirates to irregular dealings in a gold-trading company.

But instead of being thanked for his troubles, he was arrested and charged with committing the very fraud he uncovered.