http://www.thedaily.

com/page/2011/03/14/031411-news-jaubert-1-4/

The Daily Available on the iPad App Store Tour About Videos Blog Contact

This article has been shared from The Daily iPad app Download the app for the full interactive
experience.
Like Send

DUBAI BYE-BYE
Submarine designer and former French spy Herve Jaubert relaxes in his Wellington, Fla., home earlier this month. By Thomas Francis and Leslie Minora Monday, March 14, 2011

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/03/14/031411-news-jaubert-1-4/

WELLINGTON, Fla. Standing in the living room of his richly appointed home, former French spy turned luxury submarine maker Herv Jaubert announced that he would don his black burqa. With his guests watching, he slipped into the garment. He noted how he used to tuck two rolled-up hotel towels under his shirt to resemble breasts.

It was the same disguise he wore in Dubai when he was evading the police.

I used the fact that in their culture the woman is invisible, does not exist, he said, bright eyes peering out through a narrow slit in the veil. He slipped on slimming black gloves and explained how when he took a taxi or ordered anything to his hotel room, he would do so with a scribbled note.

The burqa was the exact same one he wore three years ago when he undertook a daring nighttime escape from the emirate after authorities had taken his passport and threatened to torture him. He claims they wanted him to sign a document promising to pay back the millions he was accused of embezzling from one of Dubais most powerful businessmen, and told him they would insert long needles in his nose if he did not do so.

I know about technique tortures, he said, a shiny leather loafer and a sherbet-hued pant leg peeking out of the bottom of his burqa. But I have never heard of needles inserted in the nose. Thats why it was a little bit scary.

But the escape was successful. Concealing a frog suit under the burqa, he cut the fuel line on a police

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/03/14/031411-news-jaubert-1-4/

boat and piloted in a dinghy out into international waters, where he was scooped up at a rendezvous point by a friend in a sailboat. They sailed to India.

Jaubert who resembles Alec Baldwin with more of a boyish smile staged this re-enactment for The Daily earlier this month, the day after a federal jury in Fort Pierce, Fla., concluded a two-week trial, ruling that he had no obligation to pay the state-owned Dubai World corporation the more than $30 million it had sued him for. The claims related to Jauberts failure to deliver on an alleged promise to build a eet of luxury submarines.

Though Jauberts countersuit against the company for false imprisonment and defamation did not result in a cash reward, the submarine designer and spy said he was glad it was all over.

I felt relief huge, huge relief, Jaubert said from the comfort of his plush Versace couch.

Jaubert said his incredible ordeal started in December 2003, more than 10 years after he left his job hunting international terrorists as a counterintelligence ofcer for the DGSE, Frances version of the CIA, and pursued a career designing recreational submarines.

He was still at an early stage with his Florida-based company when he received a visit from a very rich man: Sultan Bin Sulayem, then-chairman of the gigantic Dubai World corporation and a close associate of the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

He wanted to buy everything I had on the oor, said Jaubert. Every time I would show him Yeah I want that one. To me he looked more like a rich kid who wants new toys.

Bin Sulayem essentially purchased Jauberts company, and in late 2004 he moved the Frenchman and his family to Dubai, where Jaubert was to manufacture vessels for worldwide distribution. Buying things was a very familiar action for Bin Sulayem as the head of Dubai World, he racked up tens of billions of dollars in debt splashing out for assets the like the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner and high-end retailer Barneys.

He also was the man behind many of Dubais most outlandish boom-time construction projects, including The World, a globe-shaped articial archipelago.

But soon enough, the party was over. According to Jaubert, he was never given the resources to make the company successful, and after a worldwide recession took Dubai World down with it in 2007, his

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/03/14/031411-news-jaubert-1-4/

relationship with Bin Sulayem turned ugly. Jaubert said he was accused of embezzlement.

After the torture threats, Jaubert said he decided it was time to make his escape.

During his days as a French operative, Jaubert said, he would keep a rope ladder near the balcony and have a duffel bag packed for the moment his enemies stormed his room, but this time, I was not the only one who was at risk; I had my wife and two kids.

He arranged for his family to y to Florida as though they were going on vacation. After their ight took off, Jaubert said he became another person and snapped into soldier mode.

After landing in Mumbai, he went to the French consulate, told his story and was put on a ight back to the United States for an emotional reunion with his wife and kids.

The problems followed him in the form of a lawsuit. At the trial in Florida, a team of Dubai World attorneys described Jaubert as a master manipulator who misrepresented himself as a submarine expert, stole millions of dollars and racked up millions more in debt before breaching his contract and eeing to the United States. In a pretrial ruling, the judge awarded Dubai World $336,000 -- but that was a far cry from the $31 million it was seeking. The jury awarded them nothing.

When reached by phone, representatives of Dubai World declined to comment.

Now, with his legal troubles behind him, Jaubert said hes looking forward to having his memoir Escape from Dubai turned into a movie. The reason they want to make a movie is because what I do is like what you see in the movies, except its real, he said.

He also plans to start another submarine venture. I will start small, of course, in the Bahamas, and then get bigger and bigger, he said. Now I have a reputation.

But his anger over his ordeal has not faded. I will never stop exposing the truth about Dubai, said Jaubert. This country is dangerous they pretend to be an open society thats open to Western ideas, but its not. Theyre exactly like in Saudi Arabia, but they show a different face.

NOTE: Due to an error that occurred during the editing process, the video and the original version of this article contain the claim that the jury awarded Dubai World a $336,000 judgment against Jaubert

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/03/14/031411-news-jaubert-1-4/

for breach of contract. That is incorrect. Rather, a federal judge awarded a $336,000 judgment to Dubai World prior to the trial. We regret the error. Share: facebook twitter digg reddit email newsvine

Get the whole experience

Built from scratch for the iPad News, entertainment, culture, opinion, gossip, sports and tech Delivered every day Real-time updates Download The Daily for free Take The Tour Available on the iPad App Store Terms of Service Privacy Policy App EULA | Twitter facebook YouTube All rights reserved. 2011 The Daily Holdings, Inc.