Man gets 3-year term for financial fraud

When I checked with my telecom provider I learned from them that my number had not been disconnected but another SIM card had been issued in my name as a loss replacement.” Victim, complainant

dubai — A businessman, who embezzled Dh1.3 million from the account of a 75-year-old Kuwaiti bank customer after he fraudulently used his mobile phone number that had been registered with the bank, has been sentenced to three years in jail followed by deportation.

The 32-year-old Indian man has an accomplice, on the loose, who helped him apply and get a SIM card replacement in the name of the fraud victim.

The pair used forged documents in the victim’s name when applying for the SIM replacement card in his name at a shop.

They forged a power of attorney in the victim’s name, falsely claiming it was issued from the Dubai Courts.

The wrongdoings of the defendant and his runaway accomplice happened between November 2016 and end of December 2016.

The Court of First Instance found the defendant guilty of forgery and fraud charges.

The 75-year-old Kuwaiti bank customer, a trader, said he came back to the UAE from a trip on January 14, 2017, to find that his mobile line had been disconnected and that his bank account had been emptied, prompting him to file a criminal complaint.

“When I checked with my telecom provider I learned from them that my number had not been disconnected but another SIM card had been issued in my name as a loss replacement,” the victim said.

“I went on the same day to check about my account balance at my bank and I was shocked to hear that all the money in my account had been transferred to two accounts at two other banks. The money was transferred on several occasions between November 2016 and end of December 2016. The bank staff gave me a statement of the transfer transactions made.

I filed a complaint at Al Qusais police station.”

The police found that the defendant had obtained a SIM card in the victim’s name after using forged documents (a forged power of attorney and a forged Kuwaiti ID card).

The accused then accessed the online banking application and changed the victim’s user password to transfer all the sums from his account.