3-year jail term upheld for gang that swindled Dh6 million from bank

abu dhabi — A gang of nine men, convicted of stealing Dh6 million from a local bank through electronic transfer codes, has had their three-year jail sentences upheld on appeal.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation also fined the Asian and African men Dh500,000 after they were found guilty of the financial fraud. The men were ordered to jointly pay back the cash they had stolen.

Official court documents stated that the men defrauded a local bank in Abu Dhabi by cracking codes and programming, using two devices called ‘e-trader’.

Police had arrested the group after the bank reported about the financial fraud — involving millions of dirhams — that was orchestrated by one of their employees.

Prosecutors said that the defendants used electronic codes with the help of the main defendant — the bank employee — who also had knowledge of the codes of the payment devices of the e-trader.

“The men were then able to programme the electronic payment device and carry out fraudulent transactions,” said officers.

They allegedly used the e-trade devices to make it appear like the bank has paid off the shops with the money deducted from the customers’ accounts after making purchases, but instead they transferred the cash to a bank account in an Asian country.

Prosecutors had charged them with fraud and unlawful transfer of the bank’s funds using information technology methods.

Both the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court had earlier given each of the men three years in jail after they were found guilty of fraud and embezzlement.

The group challenged the ruling while denying the charges. They said in the appeal court that they were wrongly convicted.

The lawyer of some of the men said his clients had no idea about the alleged fraud. The court, however, rejected their claims and maintained earlier rulings based on the evidence presented by prosecutors.

The men will be deported after serving their jail sentences.