Ex-banker in Dubai jailed for forging cheque to steal Dh1.2m from customer's account

Dubai - The Court of First Instance convicted the 42-year-old runaway Egyptian employee of a number of charges.

A former bank customer service employee has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison after a Dubai court found him guilty of embezzling a Dh1.2 million cheque from a British customer's account.
The Court of First Instance convicted the 42-year-old runaway Egyptian employee of a number of charges, including voluntarily damaging the interests of a public entity to get a profit for himself, embezzlement from workplace, fraud and forgery. It also ordered his deportation.
Public prosecution records show that the incident took place on July 9, 2015, when the former employee stole the cheque from the cheque book of the customer who was then in his office. He forged the cheque later and siphoned off Dh1.2 million from the victim's account.
He faked the victim's signature on the cheque and issued it to the benefit of a travel and tourism agency. He deposited it in the agency's account and encashed it.
A Sudanese officer at the counter fraud and forgery section of the bank told the prosecutor that the case unfolded when they received a complaint from the British customer about the withdrawal of Dh1.2 million from his current account. "The customer said he received a message from the bank on July 9, 2015, alerting him about the withdrawal and when he contacted the defendant, the latter claimed to him that it was a mistake on the part of the bank and that the amount would be deposited back in his account. It was then returned."
On July 15, 2015, a cheque worth Dh1.2 million was again withdrawn from the victim's current account but this time the amount was not returned. "We found that the cheque was issued to the benefit of a travel and tourism agency which the complainant had no dealings with."
According to a report from the General Directorate of Criminal Evidence and Forensics, the handwriting and signature on the cheque were those of the defendant.
He had been sentenced in absentia to 10-year imprisonment and deportation in another fraud case in last July. He embezzled Dh1 million from a Syrian customer and made him believe that his Dh1 million deposit generated profits worth Dh1,850 and for him to be able to collect those profits he had to sign two cheques.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai