DUBAI — A U.S. businessman who jumped bail in the United Arab Emirates only to be sent back for trial has been convicted of multi-million dollar embezzlement and sentenced to 15 years' jail, court documents showed on Tuesday.

Zack Shahin, former chief executive of Deyaar, one of Dubai's biggest property developers, and three other men were fined 28.5 million dirhams ($8 million) in the latest conviction since the emirate stepped up its fight against corruption after a 2009 financial crisis.

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Arrested in 2008, Shahin went on hunger strike in jail last May and was released on $1.4 million bail in July after Washington expressed concern about his health. He fled to Yemen, where he was arrested in August and deported back to the UAE.

According to the verdict obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, Shahin was convicted on Monday of "intentionally damaging the interest of Deyaar" and embezzling 30 million dirhams along with the three other men, all foreigners.

The three others were sentenced to 10 years each, the court document said. One was a Briton who had fled the UAE and remains on the run, it said. The identities of the others were not disclosed.

Shahin still faces at least one other charge, of embezzling 237 million dirhams along with eight other suspects. The court referred that case to a committee of financial and accounting experts for their opinion.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

An international property tycoon found lost, emaciated and with the word "thief" written on his forehead on a country road in Ireland has claimed he was kidnapped and held for more than eight months.

Police said investigations were continuing into the apparent ordeal of Kevin McGeever — who had business dealings in the United States and Dubai — but said he had been "quite vague in his recollection of events."

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Superintendent Pat Murray said in a telephone interview Monday that the 68-year-old McGeever had "lost some weight and appeared disheveled and had some beard growth," when he was found Tuesday last week by a couple driving along a road near Ballinamore, County Leitrim, not far from the border with Northern Ireland. 

McGeever claimed he was abducted from his home in the village Craughwell, County Galway, about 70 miles away, on May 27 last year, police said. He was, however, only reported missing on June 22 by his partner Siobhan O'Callaghan.

Media reports have speculated about the involvement Russian mafia, dissident Irish militant groups and border smuggling gangs.

But Murray said police did not have any "definite intelligence of any gangs being involved," saying the case was "very mysterious."

"He [McGeever] is very vague on any kind of detail in relation to what is alleged to have happened to him," he said. "It is only an allegation at the moment."

Murray said reports the word "thief" was carved into McGeever's forehead were untrue, saying the word was written in ink.

The officer said some people had come forward to claim McGeever owed them money, but he added he did not know "how credible that is until we delve into that more deeply."

Police 'hopeful'
Murray said police had spoken to McGeever, who is being treated in a hospital, but planned to have a more formal conversation with him later.

"We're hopeful we'll get to the bottom of exactly what happened in this situation," he said.

Murray said that McGeever had business dealings in the United States and in Dubai.

The tycoon was found wandering in the road by Catherine Vallely and Peter Rehill as they drove home.

“When the man got into our car he told us he had no shoes on. I said he could have been killed in the middle of the road and he said three men threw him out of a van,” Vallely said, according to the Irish Examiner.

“I was surprised. I thought he might have Alzheimer’s or something like that. The man said his name was Kevin and he didn’t realize he was in County Leitrim. He didn’t even know the month, the day or the time,” she added.

Vallely said McGeever called a friend and they agreed to drive to a supermarket car park, but instead stopped at the police station in Ballinamore, where he was given tea and biscuits.

“He said he hadn’t eaten for God knows how long. He had a pair of enormous eyes in a very thin face and his cheekbones stuck out,” Vallely said, according to the Examiner. He was rubbing his beard with fingers that had long nails. He was very well-educated, well-spoken, and polite and articulate.”

The Sunday Independent newspaper reported that McGeever was a “wealthy property developer who sold apartments in Dubai.”

The paper said his mansion at Craughwell was nicknamed “Nirvana” by local people because of its opulence and that his cars included a Ferrari and a Porsche.

Nicola Cooke, a journalist with The Sunday Business Post, said McGeever clearly had "all the trappings of wealth," but was "very much a man of mystery."

She said he was not well known as a businessman, saying he appeared to have been mainly involved in selling apartments in Dubai for about $130,000 to ordinary people in Ireland.

An American on a flight from Dubai to Seattle suffered a heart attack and was taken to Iran for treatment, according to reports Saturday.

The AFP news agency, citing Iran’s ISNA service, said the Emirates aircraft was in Iranian airspace when the passenger, 52, became unwell and the plane landed in Tehran.

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“Yesterday (Friday), an airplane belonging to the Emirates airline, flying from Dubai to Seattle and while passing over Iran’s airspace, contacted the control tower and announced that one of this flight’s passengers had suffered a heart attack,” Abbas Mosayebi, of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, was quoted as saying.

“Despite international sanctions against the Iranian people which also endanger their lives, yesterday we helped an American citizen in our country,” Mosayebi reportedly said, adding the man was still in a hospital Saturday.

Iran, world powers begin talks over its nuke program

AFP said Swiss diplomats in Tehran, who handle American interests in the absence of a U.S. Embassy, declined to comment on the report.

The incident comes and the U.S. and other world powers are holding talks with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

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The boating industry may have had a few rough years since the days of 2007 and 2008, when banks loaned money more freely, but there’s one place where the luxury yachts continue to grow more super.

The BBC reports that Dubai, currently hosting the Middle East’s biggest boat show, has seen an increase in the type of boats that are selling –  small boats and super yachts. In fact, the average size of super yachts -- luxury yachts that are privately owned and professionally crewed -- has increased to 150 feet from 143 in 2009.

“We’ve never sold as many super yachts as in the last three years,” Erwin Bamps, chief operating officer of Gulf Craft told the BBC. Gulf Craft, which got its start in 1982 building small boats for the coast guard and for fishermen, is the largest yacht maker in the region. “We’ve moved resources to the smaller craft and to the bigger yachts.”

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These luxury yachts sell for millions of dollars -- a four-year-old Gulf Craft yacht is currently selling for $7.3 million. They are different from regular yachts because of their size.

Michael Howorth, technical editor of Superyacht World, told the BBC there are fewer people now who can afford such large yachts -- several years ago, more could buy them because of easier access to capital.

“Yachting is about enjoying it,” Howarth told the BBC. “It’s about the lifestyle."

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ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is "fine" and will return home soon, a news anchor quoted him as saying on Friday, nearly a week after he was rushed to Dubai for health reasons that led to rumors of his resignation and speculation about a possible coup.

"I'm fine and will return soon," Zardari reportedly told Hamid Mir, a popular news anchor, who repeated Zardari's statement on state television. "I did not want to leave. My children and friends and the prime minister insisted that I go for a checkup."

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The Telegraph newspaper reported Friday that Zardari had suffered from something similar to a stroke.

• Story: 'Silent coup' rumors swirl as Zardari leaves Pakistan

Doctors reportedly diagnosed him as having had a Transient Ischemic Attack, which occurs when blood flow to parts of the brain stops briefly.

While the symptoms are similar to a stroke, they do not last as long, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Updated at 6:06 a.m. ET

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has traveled to Dubai after falling ill, fuelling rumors Wednesday of his possible resignation.

Close associates of the president told the Associated Press he is currently "unwell," but did not provide specifics. His condition did not appear to be life-threatening, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

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Zardari's office said he was undergoing routine medical tests and a check-up "as planned."

However, Reuters cited a source in Dubai as saying that Zardari had suffered a minor heart attack.

"Two days ago, he had chest pain," the source added.

• Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's office released a statement saying Zardari "went to Dubai following symptoms related to his pre-existing heart condition."

The president's spokesman denied a media report that the trip meant Zardari, who has been under pressure from a memo scandal that forced the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. to resign, would cite failing health as a pretext to step down.

"All these reports are untrue, imaginary and speculative," spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The Associated Press.

'Noose was getting tighter'
An article published Tuesday on the website of Foreign Policy magazine quoted an unnamed former U.S. government official as saying Zardari was "incoherent" when he spoke with President Barack Obama by telephone over the weekend.

Parts of the U.S. government were also informed that Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and might resign on account of "ill health" amid the uproar over the memo scandal, the source said.

"The noose was getting tighter -- it was only a matter of time," the former official reportedly told Foreign Policy.

The story quickly spread on Twitter and it was picked up by Pakistan's ratings-hungry television channels.

Rumors also circulated on Twitter of an army takeover on Tuesday night, but that was quickly recanted by the original poster.

"Some elements blew up this to create unrest in the country," said Fauzia Wahab, a senior member of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party. "His visit to Dubai and having a medical check-up is perfectly normal."

• US-Pakistan relations, a new all-time low?

Foreign Policy also quoted a source close to Zardari as saying that "rumors of a silent coup are sometimes a way of trying to effect a silent coup. It won't happen."

Zardari, a canny political operator, has survived many predictions of his downfall since he became president in 2008.

A Dubai-based member of Zardari's party, Mian Muneer Hans, said the president landed in Dubai around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"He walked to his car in the airport and was not on any ambulance," said Hans, adding that he was accompanied by his doctor and petroleum minister Asim Hussain. Zardari was taken straight to the American Hospital in Dubai, according Hans.

"He's taking rest in the hospital now. He may be there for two to three days," Hans told Reuters. 

Zardari traveled to London in September to undergo an angiography and was reportedly given a clean bill of health.

Pakistan's civilian government has been under extreme pressure in recent weeks following the resignation of its ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani.

The scandal centers on a memo sent in May to U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, asking for his help in preventing a supposed coup by the Pakistan military, following the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The operation in a Pakistani garrison town outraged Pakistani officials because they were not told about it beforehand. It also humiliated the military because they were not able to stop it.

Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin, has accused Haqqani of crafting the memo with Zardari's support — allegations both Haqqani and the president have denied.

• Pakistan questions its role in US-led war on terror

Tensions between Pakistan's civilian government and military have bedeviled the nuclear-armed South Asian country for almost its entire existence, with the military ruling the country for more than half of its 64-year history after a series of coups.

Relations with the United States have been rocked by a year of bust-ups despite some $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, much of it in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants.

A NATO strike on two Pakistani border posts that killed 24 soldiers on Nov. 26 also infuriated the country's powerful military, which  has a tense relationship with Zardari.

The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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