Residency officer on trial over swindling Dh324,000, forgery
Suspect denies forging 68 e-transactions to embezzle money and taking bribes
Aresidency sergeant has been accused of abusing his authority and forging more than 68 e-transactions to embezzle around Dh324,000 while he was stationed at the Dubai International Airport.
The Emirati sergeant, who worked for the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs [GDRFA] at the airport offices, was tasked with different GDRFA transactions such as issuing travel permits, cancelling residency, removing travel bans based on absconding reports, collecting fines from illegal workers and residents, collecting fees for entering and exiting the country and carrying out the iris scan.
The sergeant was said to have misused his authority and siphoned off Dh271,000 in proceeds of nearly 68 e-transactions he was commissioned to carry out as part of his job at his duty station before October 2016.
According to records, the sergeant abused the login credentials that he had and accessed the GDRFA’s e-system to forge tens of transactions and kept the fees with himself.
He used to collect the fees himself rather than directing clients to go to the bank branch at the airport to pay the fees.
The sergeant was also said to have embezzled Dh53,000 in deposits paid for absconding reports, deportation fees and fees paid to list sponsors.
An Egyptian businessman was also believed to have paid the sergeant Dh10,000 in kickback to help him obtain a receipt that he had paid Dh104,000 in residency fines without actually paying it. This enabled the Egyptian to exit Dubai and reenter as a business partner in a trading company.
Prosecutors accused the Emirati sergeant of abusing office [as a former sergeant at GDRFA], forging e-transactions and using those forged transactions and accepting bribes. The Egyptian businessman was accused of bribing the sergeant, aiding, and abetting him in the e-forgery.
When the two suspects showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance, they entered a not guilty plea.
A Palestinian resident called the sergeant’s bluff when he visited the airport’s GDRFA office for a residency transaction for his maid. The sergeant asked him to pay him the fees in cash, which the Palestinian reported to an acquaintance at the GDRFA.