Trio jailed and fined Dhs13m over bribery

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced three Asians to three years in jail in an embezzlement case. They were also slapped with a fine of Dhs13 million in total, with Dhs6.5 million to the first convict, Dhs2.3 million to the second, and Dhs4.2 million to the third. Furthermore, two companies involved in the case have been also fined Dhs50,000, according to the Court’s verdict.

The three convicts, and the two companies in their legal capacity, have been found guilty of bribery, illegal profiting and wasting funds of about Dhs72 million.

According to the records, the major convict was a partner by 20 per cent in the plaintiff company that trades in diesel. He exploited the powers entrusted to him in terms of communicating with the supplying companies and concluding deals with the customers. He requested and accepted a bribe of about Dhs6.5 million for the facilitation of selling more than 20 million gallons of diesel without sufficient guarantees, except for several bank cheques deferred for a period of 60 days. This incurred losses of Dhs71.786 million due to facilities in the sale of diesel in a manner that caused damage because the three companies did not pay the value of diesel.

In an unrelated case, last month, a businessman and his compatriot colleague who forged paperwork to swindle three cameras were sentenced to one year in jail plus deportation.

A Pakistani builder lost his wallet while in Eyal Nasser area. The Asian businessman, 44, and colleague, 45, made use of his Emirates ID data to forge paperwork. The businessman impersonated him.

They forged a passport copy, visa voucher and a security cheque attributed to a general trading company. They showed them to a rental company and obtained the cameras and accessories worth Dhs70,000.

The businessman showed the builder’s ID while receiving the cameras. He signed a receipt and a rent document. His colleague abetted this. The Dubai Criminal Court jailed them for one year plus deportation.

On the record, the audio visual equipment rental company’s Indian manager said both contacted the company via email and applied to rent the Sony cameras and their accessories for two days at Dhs1,700.

A Filipino driver was sent to deliver them to the location in Nahda-2 area decided by one of the applicants who identified himself with the builder’s names. “I met him. He handed me Dhs1,700 and a security cheque.