Ryan Cornelius

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Ryan Cornelius (born 1954) is a British property developer detained in the United Arab Emirates since 2008. He was convicted in 2011, with three co-defendants, of fraud related to a US$501 million loan from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) connected to property-development projects undertaken during Dubai's pre-2008 real estate boom, and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, fined US$500 million and ordered to repay the loan. In 2018, shortly before he was due to be released, a Dubai court extended his sentence by a further 20 years unless an outstanding debt of about US$430 million was settled, a ruling that would keep him imprisoned until 2038. The extension was made under a law allowing longer sentences for those who defraud a government-linked institution and do not return the proceeds. Cornelius' continued detention has attracted international attention. In 2022, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention arbitrary and called for his immediate release and compensation; in July 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by 511 votes to 50 demanding his immediate and unconditional release; and his case has been the subject of a UK House of Commons debate and letters from British parliamentarians calling for action on his behalf.