Airline staff in Dubai faces retrial for stealing Dh162,000 by overpricing travel tickets

Dubai - He admitted to the charges in court and reportedly forged as many as 36 ticket purchase e-receipts in one year.

An airline employee in Dubai, who was found guilty of embezzling Dh162,155 by jacking up the prices of travel tickets, has faced a retrial at the Court of First Instance.
During the hearing, the court heard how the 30-year-old Syrian employee tampered with e-data and forged the bills of payments made by customers. He would put lower amounts in the books and pocket the difference. He admitted to the charges in court and reportedly forged as many as 36 ticket purchase e-receipts in one year.
When he was convicted of embezzlement and forgery, he was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to repay the Dh162,155 he stole, in addition to a fine of Dh150,000. He will also be deported.
"The defendant has been working as a salesman for the airline since 2016. The case came to light on September 9, 2019. When going over the transactions done by the defendant, we noticed that he would sometimes sell the tickets at high prices (higher than the real ones) but putting other amounts in the e-system and later embezzle the difference," said a Lebanese security controller who was working with the airline.
"He embezzled amounts totalling Dh162,155 as he issued 27 travel tickets. He would either sell the tickets at a high price and embezzle the difference, or pocket the fee for upgrading in class, or the airport tax on tickets, or the penalty for changing the travel date."
During police interrogation and public prosecution investigation, the accused confessed to the charges. He said that when the discrepancies were discovered, he told his workplace he was going through financial hardships. He expressed willingness to give the money back and work on a settlement with the airline.
The public prosecution has requested a strict penalty for the defendant while he remains in detention.
The trial will resume on September 23.
mary@khaleejtimes.com