Its former chief operating officer, Waqar Siddiqui, was also fined $1.15 million by the authority RIYADH: Founder of UAE-based private equity firm Abraaj Group, Arif Naqvi has been fined $135.6 million by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, or DFSA, over his role in the firm’s collapse back in 2019. Its former chief operating officer, Waqar Siddiqui, was also fined $1.15 million by the authority, Bloomberg reported. Both Naqvi and Siddique argued against the DFSA’s allegations, referring the decision notices to the Financial Markets Tribunal. Founded in 2002, Abraaj Group posed as the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa region until it was fined a record $315 million by Dubai’s financial regulator for manipulating investors and misappropriating their funds, Bloomberg reported back in 2019.abraaj