Fraudsters drain Dh9 million from UAE bank account, leave only Dh36

Dubai - Account was drained after several withdrawal transactions.

A businessman, with runaway accomplices, siphoned off more than Dh9 million from the account of a bank customer by fraudulently using his online banking service, a Dubai court has heard.
The Court of First Instance was told that the 32-year-old Indian man, together with others at large, managed to withdraw more than Dh9 million from the account of the victim, draining it to just Dh36.
They had first applied for a SIM card replacement in the victim's name, impersonating him at a telecom provider.
They then contacted the bank with the mobile number, linked with the victim's bank account. They managed to have the amount transferred to the account of the businessman at another bank and to the account of an accomplice at a third bank. Prosecutors accused the businessman of forgery, use of forged documents and fraud. A case was registered at Al Qusais police station.
The complainant, a Moroccan manager, said that he and his brother have the right to dispose of the bank account, from which the large cash was embezzled, and sign on transactions related to it. "The last time a deposit was made in the account was on April 7, 2016, and the balance was then Dh9,047,500. None of us withdrew from it since that date."
The complainant told the investigating prosecutor that between August 2 and September 4, last year, their account was drained after several withdrawal transactions and the balance was reduced to just Dh36.
A banking consultancy expertise and audit report, which detailed how the withdrawal transactions were done, was enclosed to the case file by the public prosecution.
The defendant, who has been placed in detention since then, confessed during investigation that he withdrew amounts of money that were deposited into a company's account, for which he had the power to sign and dispose of. He will be sentenced on April 11.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
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