When Danielle Jeffries left for Dubai in 2015, she had a plan — work for a couple of years, get international experience, then start her own accounting business in the United Arab Emirates.
She had built up her accounting career since getting her bachelor’s from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and then working for Deloitte and Fannie Mae.
But the plan went awry when Jeffries, 58, was convicted of a forgery in November 2018 in Dubai that she and others say she did not commit, according to the United Kingdom-based human rights organization, Detained in Dubai. She was fined the U.S. equivalent of $40,000 to be followed by a three-month jail sentence.
Jeffries, who moved to Miami in the ‘70s and later graduated from Norland High in Miami Gardens, has been detained in the United Arab Emirates since her conviction as she has not been able to pay the fine. She has her passport but cannot leave the country or work.
“Danielle Jeffries is a Black woman in a Middle Eastern legal system and this in itself will influence her access to a fair trial,” Detained in Dubai CEO and Jeffries’ attorney Radha Stirling said in a press release. “... Racism and sexism are prevalent throughout the United Arab Emirates.”
The Miami Herald did not receive a comment after emailing the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. A brief statement from the U.S. State Department said it was aware of Jeffries’ predicament.
“We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad, and are providing all appropriate consular services,” read an excerpt of the State Department’s statement.
Jeffries, however, disagrees.
The U.S. Embassy “said they don’t want to be involved,” Jeffries said in a June interview with Stirling. “Do you think I want to be involved? Whose side are they on? I’m being told just pay the fine. I did nothing wrong and I’m supposed to pay $40,000?”
An email correspondence between Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican senior senator from Florida, and the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi substantiates Jeffries’ claims. In the email, the embassy said its officials provided her with a list of attorneys, noting this was “the assistance” they were “authorized to provide to U.S. citizens involved in legal proceedings in foreign countries.“
Rubio echoed the embassy, saying in an email that he regretted, “This response could not have been more favorable.”
Jeffries moved to Dubai in 2015 to work for The Accounts Department, a Dubai-based accounting firm. She spent two years there, frequently traveling to Miami to visit her now 93-year-old mother, before deciding to pursue her dreams of starting her own international accounting practice.
That’s when Jeffries said her situation started to worsen.
She notified her employer of her plans to resign, and hired Mohammed Mansour Salem Jadoua, a public relations executive, to help her apply for a business trading license and an investor visa.
The terms of her employment visa banned Jeffries from starting her own company so she instructed Jadoua to wait until her resignation became official before submitting any documents to the government, she said she told him.
Jadoua applied for the trade license anyway, according to Stirling. When notified that this was illegal, he subsequently forged a document which, when signed by an employer, allows their worker to start a business while still on said visa.
Jeffries’ dream of building her own business soon turned into a nightmare once her employer became aware of the situation. A police investigation commenced, during which Jadoua admitted to submitting the application early, Stirling said.
Then Jadoua changed his story, accusing Jeffries of knowing about the forgery, she added.
“Despite clear evidence of Ms. Jeffries’ innocence, Dubai police allowed [Jadoua] to change his witness testimony and subsequently prosecuted both parties on behalf of [The Accounts Department],” Stirling said.
The court documents obtained by the Herald did not list Jadoua’s contact information.
A court in Dubai ultimately found both Jeffries and Jadoua guilty. In May 2019, she was sentenced to three months behind bars, deportation and fined about $40,000, according to Stirling. Her inability to pay the fine means she must remain in Dubai indefinitely.
Cyra Choudhury, a professor at Florida International University College of Law who specializes in international and comparative law, described Jeffries’ situation as “very unfortunate” but also added her conviction wasn’t totally surprising.
“If you hire somebody and they’re acting under the color of your authority, you are probably going to be found liable for things that they do if it is within the agreement of their job,” Choudhury said in a phone interview.
While Choudhury acknowledged that racism and sexism could have played a role in Jeffries’ case, she was hesitant to say that it 100 percent influenced the verdict. She did note that the fine was outrageous.
“This fine is unjustly high for something that she clearly didn’t, and the evidence shows she didn’t, know about or authorize,” she said.
The UAE has a history of detaining Americans. An American University professor was “held hostage” in Dubai for two years over an unpaid debt. More recently, a California woman was kept in Abu Dhabi for several months on a cybercrime charge after calling an Egyptian man, whom she said alleged sexually harassed her, a “dirty animal.”
Both were freed following a media outcry.
Jeffries hopes that she too can one day return stateside. She’s battled depression and worries about her mother, who only recently became aware of the situation.
“I kept it from her from as long as I could,” Jeffries said. “As soon as she knew, my stress level felt like it just tripled.”
Having not held a job for more than year, Jeffries has survived off the generosity of her family, who created a GoFundMe. About $5,500 has been raised.
Twenty months into her ordeal, even the simple question, “How are you?” leads to a deep sigh before answering.
“Honestly,” she said, “I’ve amazed myself. Somehow, I guess the human spirit will rise to the occasion. I’m here by myself. It has been extremely stressful and very frightening, but I’ve had to just be strong so that I can hopefully get through this.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated The Accounts Department was based in New Zealand. The story has been corrected to reflect that the accounting firm is based in Dubai.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 1:05 PM.
