Dubai hotel employee accused of embezzling Dh252,000 worth of guests' deposits

Dubai - Prosecutors accused him of embezzling from workplace, forgery and use of forged documents.

A hotel employee, who allegedly embezzled Dh252,245, worth of guests' security deposits, went on trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to public prosecution records, the 33-year-old Filipino employee, who has been detained, used to work at the accounting section at the hotel when he abused his post and breached trust to embezzle guests' money by forging reclaim forms.
Prosecutors accused him of embezzling from workplace, forgery and use of forged documents. He did not attend the hearing on Wednesday (April 17).
The incident was reported to Al Barsha police in November last year.
An Egyptian manager recounted during the public prosecution investigation how they received a letter from the bank informing them about many money transfers from the hotel's account to the same credit card. "It turned out that card belonged to the defendant. We conducted a probe and found out that the defendant embezzled Dh252,245 between November 2017 and July 2018. We reported him to the police for embezzlement and forgery of reclaim forms."
According to the manager, the original reclaim forms were with the defendant who worked at the accounting section. "He would scan the original form on the computer and then alter it by replacing the number of the guest's bank card with his credit card number. He would send the altered copy to the bank where our hotel account is deposited. The bank would later send the amount to the defendant's credit card account."
The manager told the prosecutor that the accused forged such forms many times. "He did that out of greed. He had neither dispute nor labour case with the hotel."
The accused did not return the amounts he embezzled to the hotel, the manager told the prosecutor. "He acknowledged what he did in front of me and the hotel manager and another administration staff."
The trial will continue on April 28.
mary@khaleejtimes.com