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Top Official Among Suspects in Land Fraud Case

All were facing charges of accepting money for forging official documents concerning rents of commercial shops, maps of commercial and industrial land at the Al Hail industrial zone.

The Public Prosecution statement said the former director of the municipality along with the head of the planning section had committed forgery.

The Public Prosecution said the third defendant, a merchant-cum-contractor had helped them with the names and the money dealings.

The ex-head of the land section at the municipality (the fourth defendant) was charged with accepting bribery for processing the papers.

The fifth defendant, 29-year-old housewife, had assisted the fourth defendant in forging the official documents by providing him with information.

Apart from impersonating the position of an employee at the land section to get money, she convinced the seventh and eighth defendants to offer kickbacks to the top officials.

The sixth defendant (wife of the fourth defendant) was accused of influencing her husband to accept bribes.

The seventh and eighth defendants were facing the charge of offering money to a public employee (the fourth defendant) to allocate land for them.

The hearing, which was presided over by judge Ahmed Al Azouri, were attended by the seven defendants. The eight defendant who was freed on bail did appear before the court.

All the defendants denied the charges levelled against them except the municipality chief who confessed to have sealed 20 blank blueprints of the land.

He also told the court that it is the head of the land section who filled the applications.

Advocates of the defendants asked the court for more time to examine the case thoroughly and requested the court to release the defendants.

The court was adjourned to November 16 and ordered the release of the sixth and seventh defendants and turned down a request for releasing the other five defendants. .

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