Bootlegger jailed for bid to buy off corporal

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A bootlegger asked a policeman to alert him about looming police raids in exchange for Dhs50, 000 monthly. He has been jailed for one year and fined Dhs80, 000.

The Asian defendant –an accountant, 45- befriend the Emirati corporal, 32, who was working for the Dubai Police CID’s anti-bootlegging section and offered to give him Dhs30, 000 for the first month.    

The offer was also meant to convince him and his workmates at the section to avoid conducting raids in Al Muhaisna (Sonapur). The corporal lured him into a trap at a parking lot in Nahdah on Jan.21.

In court, the defendant denied having offered any bribe to him. “No. It’s not true,” he argued. The Dubai Criminal Court found him guilty, jailed him and slapped him with the fine after which he will be deported.

Before police and prosecutors, the defendant revealed that a bootlegging gang leader residing abroad commissioned him to meet the cop and convince him not to arrest his subordinates in Sonapur.

The elderly leader had incurred losses to the tune of Dhs2.5m as a result of relentless police raids. In a recent raid police apprehended 40 bootleggers and seized 11 vehicles they were using to hawk alcohol.

The defendant told the corporal that the leader was willing to pay any sum but would start with Dhs30, 000 because he incurred losses due to raids. The defendant told the cop that the first payment was ready.

“The cop started to procrastinate while claiming he was busy,” said the defendant, adding that the cop summoned him at around 6pm on Jan.21. He went, entered the cop’s car and handed him the Dhs30, 000.

Policemen stormed the place and arrested him. They also confiscated some Dhs12, 340 he was found with. He admitted to have offered bribes to the cop so he could overlook alcohol selling and storage dens.

Before prosecutors, the cop said the defendant contacted him asking him to condone his bootlegging activities in reward for cash. “He asked me not enter Sonapur and to alert him about impending raids. I told him to give me time to think about it. I notified my senior (a captain) who advised me to lure him.

“He offered Dhs15, 000. I told him my workmates would need shares also. He said he would pay Dhs30, 000. He promised to pay Dhs50, 000 each month as long as I and my workmates cooperated. Police equipped my car with an audio recorder. He entered, paid me Dhs30, 000 and I signalled to the police team.”