PRO tampers with visa transactions in Dubai, embezzles over Dh110,000

Dubai - The court also ordered that he be deported.

A PRO, accused of embezzling over Dh110,000 from the company where he worked, has been sentenced to one year in jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to Dubai Public Prosecution records, the 37-year-old Omani PRO misappropriated amounts of money totaling Dh110,711 which were given to him by his workplace towards settling the fees of applications for renewal of labour cards. The financial irregularities ran from August 2018 to March 2019.
The defendant was accused of using a form issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and reproducing forged copies in which he added amounts which were not correct.
He collected the said amounts after presenting the forged copies to his workplace, the plaintiff.
The court found him guilty of charges of embezzlement, breach of trust and forgery and ordered him to pay a Dh110,711 fine.
The court also ordered that he be deported.
A legal consultant told the prosecution investigator that in March last year, a Jebel Ali police patrol stopped one of the company staff and found that his residency visa had expired.
"By checking the relevant transaction, which had been handled by the defendant, it was known that its number was not correct. We then checked all the transactions he had taken care of, including applications for labour permits, residency visas renewals and other bills, which he attributed to the ministry."
The legal consultant said that after addressing the ministry, they learned that the defendant forged as many as 46 applications by altering the amounts (he had paid) and writing up incorrect amounts. "He embezzled Dh110,711 in total."
An Indian accountant said that the accused misappropriated the amounts he had been entrusted with to finalise the transactions necessary for residency visas for the company staff at the ministry. "He then handed over 46 forged copies to the company's administration. The man illegally pocketed Dh110,711."
A letter from the ministry included a list of the registered staff. The transactions had receipts that did not match with those submitted by the accused to the plaintiff.
During the prosecution investigation, the PRO admitted to charges of embezzlement, breach of trust and forgery. He confessed he forged the documents to cover up his misappropriation of the cash.
The ruling can be appealed.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai