Executives incarcerated for Dhs13m scam

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Two men who faked 286 documents to swindle Dhs13m in the name of their employer’s steel company must see out their 3-year-jail term and Dhs300, 000 fine.

The Arab director, 36, and Asian sales executive, 49, duped 14 companies into believing they could make them eligible to reduced customs fees if they transferred their steel to the company, records read.

They then forged 286 customs declaration forms and transferred ownership of Dhs259 million steel between 2011 and 2013. They continued posing as officials of the company even after being fired. They presented the 14 companies with bogus documents and charged them between 2 and 5 per cent of the total amount of the goods’ worth, prosecutors revealed at the Criminal Court on Aug.13, 2017.

The company fired the director in April 2013. On the other hand, the executive was fired in July for disclosing company secrets to the director who had by then established a transportation company.

They continued conning companies out of cash and pocketing customs clearance and brokerage fees causing the company to incur violations and fines. The steel they transferred was worth Dhs259,356,018. The court jailed each one for three years and a Dhs150,000 fine plus deportation. They have been since February last year battling to challenge the ruling but the Appeals Court upheld their punishments on Wednesday.

On the record, in June 2015 the company management discovered that ownership of Dhs259m steel was transferred to it without its knowledge or consent. Investigations revealed both men used a duplicate stamp, usernames and passwords earlier issued to them by the company. They managed to rip off personal gains worth around Dhs12, 967, 800. Several violations and fines were registered on the steel company for having defaulted on paying the required customary fees following the ownership transfer of those huge quantities of steel.

A Jordanian store manager, 42, visited Dubai Customs to finalise a shipment’s procedures and learnt that the company had outstanding fees for goods registered under it.  “Our company management investigated the matter and discovered that the steel transfer procedures were conducted by both the director and the executive,” he explained.

A Jordanian finance manager, 41, said both convicts were dismissed in 2013. They continued conducting criminal activities which came to light in 2015. When the director learnt the management was investigating him, he threatened the owner then filed a malicious tax evasion report against the management with the customs authorities.