Court commutes briber’s punishment

DUBAI: A businessman who bribed an immigration oficer to help rescind ines of an overstaying visitor and lift an absconding complaint against an ex-worker has won a lenient punishment.

The Asian defendant, 42, offered Dhs21,000 to an Emirati warrant oficer from the residency directorate to rescind ines worth Dhs53,700 against a Canadian man who had overstayed his visiting visa.

He also asked him to lift a complaint iled against a Jordanian marketing executive who absconded from his sponsor since Oct.2011, prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court. The court sentenced him to one year in jail.

It also slapped him with a Dhs21, 000 ine after which he will be deported. He appealed seeking mercy. The Dubai Appeals Court has commuted the prison term to six months. It upheld the ine and deportation order.

In prosecution records, the oficer, 29, who worked in the visa transactions section narrated that the defendant befriended him then offered him to bribe him in case he deleted ines slapped against residency law violators.

He offered to bribe him in case he lifted absconding complaints lodged against runaway workers and lift permanent bans issued against deported persons. The oficer raised the matter to the preventive security section.

The defendant later handed him the passport copy of the Canadian male visitor who had overstayed for 537 days plus the passport of the Jordanian executive who had absconded from a company in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Police organised an ambush in the residency directorate’s employee parking lot on Aug.13.2017. The defendant showed up at around 11:30am and entered the oficer’s car. The oficer handed him a sealed parcel.

The defendant handed him Dhs18,000 and promised to give him the remaining Dhs3,000 soon. The oficer made a signal to the police team. The defendant upon arrest confessed, according to Bur Dubai Police Station records.