Exclusive: Fortress Prime’s Top Shareholder Arrested by UAE Police

The Fortress Prime saga which unfolded over the past year just got closer to a conclusion with the arrest of Hamed Ahmed Elbarki/Mokhtar. The controversial majority shareholder on the FBI’s most wanted list has been apprehended by local authorities in the United Arab Emirates, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed to Finance Magnates.

Fortress Prime made headlines about a year ago after its clients faced delays in the processing of their withdrawal requests. Eventually the company wound down its business after promising big clients an initial payment of $0.25 on the dollar, an amount which the clients of the brokerage have not yet received.

Numerous attempts by clients of Fortress Prime to withdraw their funds had reached a dead end until this latest piece of news. The majority shareholder of the company is now in custody and clients of Fortress Prime are looking to mount a legal case against Hamed Ahmed Elbarki/Mokhtar in order to receive their funds.

With the majority shareholder of Fortress Prime in custody, the legal case against him is likely to be further backed up by evidence from Interpol and the Federal Bureau of Investigations which have both been on the lookout for Hamed Ahmed Elbarki/Mokhtar for years.

Finance Magnates exposed earlier this year that the majority shareholder of Fortress Prime Hamed Ahmed Mokhtar Hamed Mohamed has the same date of birth as the FBI/Interpol wanted criminal Hamed Ahmed Elbarki. The individual was in possession of both an Egyptian and a U.S. passport before ending up in custody of UAE authorities.

According to the FBI's official document which is listed on the website of the U.S. authority he has been involved in securities fraud and wire fraud.

Fortress Prime on-boarded many institutional clients including a number of brokerages, to whom the firm has promised to clear their trades. After numerous withdrawal attempts by the customers were rejected, the company abruptly stopped its services.