Etisalat ex-salesman in dock for swindling Dh208,000

dubai — A 28-year-old has been charged with fraud for allegedly swindling a telecommunication service provider of more than Dh208,000.

The accused, an Egyptian who was a salesman at a kiosk selling Etisalat services, allegedly filed fake applications in the name of 38 customers to obtain expensive smart phones, SIM cards and data bundles. His alleged fraudulent use of the services resulted in bills amounting to Dh208,861.

He has been charged with fraud, embezzlement, forgery and unauthorised logging into an electronic system at the Court of First Instance.

The case dates back to June and July 2015, and he was reported to Al Rashidiyah police.

A 28-year-old Filipina customer service employee testified that the accused told her to come to work early by one hour on some mornings in July 2015. “He gave me several applications for phone services and told me to process them urgently. He said he wanted to go on leave. I had no idea what he was doing and I did it with good intention,” she said.

She learnt later that he forged those applications in the names of different people. “The customers checked with us and informed us they never applied for new services. It became clear that the smart phones were received by the defendant,” she told the court.

An Indian customer service employee, 25, said that nearly 40 customers checked with their shop.

“Some were complaining they received higher monthly bills and others about the reason they received SMS alerts about purchase orders of new smart phones, which they had not asked for or received.”

The witness added that he learnt the suspect processed applications using three employees’ access privilege. The hearing has been adjourned to June 5.

mary@khaleejtimes.com