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Residency officer stands trial on bribe charge

The 34-year-old Egyptian clerk and the 24-year-old Emirati corporal faced the charges of offering and collecting bribes, forging of government documents and using them illegally and criminal complicity.

According to the prosecution records, the corporal allegedly collected the bribes from the clerk for unlawful services that included lifting the ban on many persons who wanted to reenter the country and cancellation of fines when was employed by the directorate from October 2010 to January 6 this year.

For that, he is believed to have tampered with the electronic data of the residency department by keying in incorrect details, writing off ban and extending cancellation of residency visas in many cases, which was a breach of the residency law.The officer allegedly tampered with the transactions of a Tunisian woman, an Egyptian man, and others including Sudanese, Moroccans, Kenyans, and Algerians.

In one instance related to the transaction of the Tunisian woman, the officer lifted the ban imposed on the woman and tampered with her records to cancel her fines that totalled Dh50,000 and then stamped a residence visa on her passport, thus making her status legal in the country. An Emirati sergeant with the Follow-up and Investigation Section at the residency department told the prosecutor that they were informed about tampering with the Tunisian’s transaction records by state security officers on December 28 last year.

“We learnt that the administrative procedures like taking her iris scan and deporting her did not take place even though there was a letter by the state security officers in this regard,” the sergeant said during interrogation by the Public Prosecution.

In his statement, the sergeant said the woman had benefitted, thanks to the Emirati defendant who extended her visa cancellation which gave her exemption from new fines until her new residence visa was adjusted, which was not in compliance with the residency law. On checking the residency computer system, they found out that the defendant had tampered with the woman’s transactions. For his illegal services to that woman, he allegedly collected Dh20,000.

When the sergeant summoned the corporal and enquired from him about those illegal transactions, the latter admitted that he processed them.

The corporal blamed it on financial problems he had. He said that he met the clerk at a cafeteria and friendship developed between them. The clerk learnt of his situation and offered him Dh20,000 to adjust the woman’s status. The corporal did similar services to rectify other people’s status and process clearance of different transactions for a total of Dh60,000. — mary@khaleejtimes.com

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