Ala Iebadeh

Ala has experience across the MENA region in a broad range of industries including chemical, aviation, shipping, media, financial services, healthcare, education, construction, consumer goods, public sector, and family conglomerates.

She has supported accounting expert witnesses in a variety of disputes, including shareholder disputes, agency disputes, and contract disputes. This also involved dealing directly with the local courts and providing ongoing support to legal representatives.

Prior to joining Ankura, Ala was a manager in a global consulting firm’s forensic practice in the Middle East, with experience in disputes and investigations, corporate intelligence services, and financial services regulatory advisory.

Ala’s professional experience includes:

• Led an investigation of unusual changes to an insurance policy of a publicly listed company’s asset which led to a loss of over $32 million when the asset was lost in a black swan event. The investigation revealed procurement fraud and collusion. Another potentially unrelated fraud was also uncovered which may have led to a loss of over $10 million for the company.
• Worked on a high-profile and highly sensitive multijurisdictional investigation involving corruption, collusion, bribery, embezzlement, and money laundering of hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars of public funds on an international scale. The work involved collaborating with international anti-corruption authorities and led to the imprisonment of multiple high-profile individuals.
• Worked on a high-profile investigation for a large government contractor, based in the GCC, with assets over AED two billion. The work involved verifying multiple allegations of tax evasion, mismanagement, fraud, misappropriation, and collusion by the senior management of the company.
• Worked on a large multijurisdictional investigation for a public sector company. The investigation involved assessing allegations of fraud and collusion and uncovered multiple interconnected schemes to defraud the company of millions of dollars.
• Worked on an investigation verifying whistleblower allegations made against the sales team of a large local fast-moving consumer goods company. The allegations involved misappropriation, collusion, and leakage of confidential data. The work involved collaborating with the legal representatives to issue a travel ban on the suspected individuals.
• Worked on an investigation into an alleged fraud committed by the administrative manager of a government-owned hospital. The work involved verifying multiple allegations of misappropriation and conducting a forensic review to identify further suspicious transactions.
• Managed a dispute advisory, on behalf of the defendant, for a contract dispute between two large media companies, with a claim of over AED 50 million. The work involved analyzing and identifying weaknesses within two expert committee reports to reduce the quantum of damages, collaborating with the legal representatives, and attending and participating in hearings.
• Managed a dispute advisory as a court-appointed expert for a shareholder dispute in a large educational company based in the GCC. The work involved assessing the validity of the claim’s allegations of mismanagement by the senior management of the company.
• Managed a dispute advisory for a shareholder dispute in a large family group in the UAE with revenues over $1 billion. The work involved analyzing the adequacy of the group’s governance and internal control policies and procedures and providing recommendations.
• Worked on a dispute advisory on behalf of the claimant for a large government-owned company in the GCC. The work involved assessing a series of deficit claims for a highly sensitive and confidential dispute with a total claim value of over $800 million.
• Worked on a dispute advisory on behalf of the claimant for an international arbitration in the ICC, with a claim value of over $40 million. The claim involved a breach of contract between the client and a German construction company and involved a quantification of damages and lost profits along with a critique of the expert report submitted by the opposing party.
• Worked on a cross-functional dispute advisory as a court-appointed expert for a shareholder dispute in a large family conglomerate with a claim of over $300 million. The work involved assisting the accounting expert witness in assessing the validity of the allegations of the claim.
• Assisted a large bank in identifying and tracing assets belonging to defaulters of multiple large loans.