HOUSTON – A distraught Houston family said their patriarch has been wrongfully imprisoned in Dubai for the past 15 years with no hope of getting out in sight.
Making matters worse, they say time is of the essence because his deplorable living conditions have him almost on his deathbed.
“He was a teenager when he came here,” said Zack Shahin’s sister-in-law, Aida Dagher.
Born in Lebanon, Zack Shahin is considered by his family to be a hardworking man who came from humble beginnings and built a life here in Houston as a sales rep for Pepsi. He was transferred to Dubai to help with operations there.
“He worked for Pepsi for a few years in the middle east and then eventually moved into banking,” said Zack’s son Ramy Shahin.
From there, Zack switched paths and joined a real estate company in the United Arab Emirates in 2004.
“Very, very smart man. Really, really smart,” Dagher said.
“It wasn’t just an overnight thing. He climbed the latter it took him years,” Ramy said.
But in 2008 when Shahin’s family said he wanted to resign from the company and return to Houston to raise his family, that’s when the nightmare began.
“He tells me at 11 a.m., ‘Hey, my meetings at noon. I’ll be back by 2 p.m. (and) we’ll all go get lunch. I was like, ‘sounds good,’” Ramy said.
His family said the next time they saw him, he was in custody.
“That night is when he showed up at our doorstep in handcuffs shackled with six or seven cops in disguise with him and a bag on his head,” Ramy said.
For the past 15 years, Zack has been serving a 25-year prison sentence for forgery and embezzlement, accused of stealing $25 million dollars. His family said independent auditors proved that wasn’t true.
“PWC, Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst and Young. Nobody found any errors, no write-offs and nothing in the books,” Ramy said.
Shahin’s family said the prison he’s been in is more like a dungeon, adding the deplorable conditions forced him into a hospital nearly four months ago.
“He’s undergone two abdominal surgeries in the span of just one month. After the first surgery, he got infected with pseudomonas, which is a bacterial infection that’s usually contracted from operating rooms,” Ramy said.
Shahin’s family fears time is running out.
“If he doesn’t come to the U.S. for medical treatment, he will die,” Dagher said.
Zack is now 58 years old. We’re told if he doesn’t pay $25 million at the end of his 25-year sentence, he will be sentenced to 25 more years. In his current state, his family doesn’t think he has much time to live at all.
They’re hoping the State Department can step in and help bring him home before it’s too late.