Loan swindler poses as TV station manager

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A salesman posed as a television station manager to con a Dubai bank out of a Dhs140,000 loan, the Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday.

The Asian defendant, 43, committed forgery on the copy of a visa voucher. He noted on the visa that he was working at a media zone authority as the manager of prominent news channel covering the Mena region.

He also committed forgery on the copy of a bank statement attributed to a local commercial bank in Abu Dhabi. He presented the forgeries to a commercial bank in Dubai and applied for a credit card, prosecutors told the jury.

He convinced the bank’s management that he was earning a Dhs50,000 salary. Through the fraudulent means he managed to dupe the Dubai bank into handing him a credit card with a Dhs140,000 limit. He withdrew it.

In prosecution records, an Egyptian banker said the defendant in 2017 contacted the bank’s Indian saleswoman saying he obtained her phone number from one of the bank’s clients. He told her he wanted to obtain a credit card

She asked him to bring his passport, employment visa, ID and bank account. He arrived at the bank and summoned her outside. She examined the original documents. He handed her their copies. He signed a credit card application.

She handed him a cheque. He fixed his signature on it. Days later, he received the card. He withdrew the sum gradually until it was over. The bank’s collection section later contacted him to pay obligations incurred on the card. He did not comply.

Officials reviewed his documents and contacted his workplace at the TV station as per his visa. They learnt he was not working there. The bank in Abu Dhabi and confirmed the bank statement was fake. They complained to Al Barsha Police Station. In court he denied the charges. The ruling will be on June 30.