‘TV manager’ behind loan scam wins mercy

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A salesman who posed as a television station manager to con a Dubai bank out of a Dhs140,000 loan has won mercy at the Dubai Appeals Court.

The 43-year-old Asian defendant first appeared at the Dubai Criminal Court on May 26. Prosecutors accused him of having faked the copy of a visa voucher, noting that he worked at a media zone authority.

On the copy he claimed he was the manager of a prominent news channel covering the Middle East and North Africa. He counterfeited the copy of a bank statement attributed to a commercial bank in Abu Dhabi.

He presented them to the bank in Dubai and applied for a credit card. He claimed he was earning a Dhs50,000 salary. He duped the bank into handing him a credit card with a Dhs140,000 limit. He withdrew the sum.

He denied the charges in court. The court sent him to serve one year in the dock plus deportation. It ordered the forgeries be confiscated. He appealed for mercy. The Dubai Appeals Court has halved the jail term.

In prosecution records, an Egyptian banker said the defendant contacted the bank’s Indian saleswoman and told her he got her phone number from one of the bank’s clients. He expressed he wanted a credit card.

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

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

Officials examined the documents he had presented. They contacted his supposed workplace and learnt that he was not working there. On the other hand, the bank in Abu Dhabi confirmed the bank statement was fake.  The Indian saleswoman gave a similar narration. She recognised him at the Dubai Public Prosecution.