Trio jailed for forging sick leaves in UAE

Abu Dhabi - The three had denied charges of forging official documents

A nurse and two other men accused of forging hundreds of sick notices for various people in return for money have been sentenced to jail.
Abu Dhabi criminal court of first instance gave the Filipino nurse and the Emirati man each five years in jail after they were found guilty of forging official documents. The Emirati's driver was given three years in jail in absentia.
Court earlier heard that the Filipino woman working for a private hospital in Abu Dhabi could issue out forged sick leaves to people who were brought to her by an Emirati man and his Asian driver.
Official court documents stated that the nurse was illegally using medical documents having Abu Dhabi health authorities' logo to write on the sick notices which she stamped with a doctor's seal and signature before handing them over to various people.
Police investigations suggested that the Emirati was the one getting people who wanted sick leaves and could forward their details to the nurse to write up the sick note.
The Emirati was allegedly promoting the illegal business through posting messages about their service on social media where he could get a lot of people wanting to take leave from work.    
"After talking to the customers, the man would send across the details of the worker and the number of days he or she wants to take off work and send through a text message to the nurse's phone," a prosecutor  at a previous hearing.
"The nurse then wrote and signed the sick notes and handed them over to the Emirati's driver for delivery." 
The group was charging each worker Dh50 for a day's leave, Dh100 for two days and Dh300 for those wanting to rest for many days. 
Authorities found out during their investigations that the group had collected about Dhs500,000 from the illegal business given the fact that they were issuing over 450 forged sick notes monthly.
The three had denied charges of forging official documents throughout their trial but court convicted them basing on evidence presented by prosecutors.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com