Duo forges papers to buy phones, SIM cards

sharjah — Two Asian salesmen stood trial at the Sharjah Criminal Court after being accused of using company documents and forged salary certificates to get SIM cards and mobile phones worth Dh1.74 million from Etisalat.

The first accused had submitted 136 applications and got 179 mobile phones and SIM cards worth Dh1.38 million in the names of companies and people who never applied for it. The second accused filed 71 applications and got 85 mobile phone devices worth Dh365,000.

The case came to light in October 2017 when Etisalat officials received complaints from a number of people and companies, stating that they had received bills for SIM cards and phones which they never bought. On learning about this, the auditing department of Etisalat launched an investigation. They discovered that two salesmen of another company, who dealt with Etisalat and had been working since 2015, did not abide by their job profiles and violated the law while dealing with customers.

During the internal investigation conducted by Etisalat, the first accused confessed to having forged documents to get phones and SIM cards.

Both the accused were arrested by the police after Etisalat lodged a complaint. The two were referred to the court.

The Sharjah Criminal Court judge confronted the accused with the charges, but the duo pleaded not guilty. The case has been adjourned till the end of the month.

amira@khaleejtimes.com