3 Dubai bank staff accept Dh37m bribe to forge papers

The four men were all charged in the Court of First Instance with accepting bribes, forgery and criminal complicity.

Three bank employees went on trial accused of accepting bribes worth $10 million (about Dh37million) in return for forging bank documents (facilities and security deposits).
The three bankers, including two Pakistanis and a Filipino, are believed to have sent the forged documents via e-mail to addresses given to them by a Nigerian accomplice - who is at large.
The alleged wrongdoings took place between June and November 2015.
The main accused, a 33-year-old Pakistani who is a commercial developer, is accused of forging 15 security deposits and falsely claiming they were issued by the bank. He filled the forms, signed and sealed them with the bank's stamp. The facilities given by him were for individuals and companies which do not have any entitlements thereto.
The four men were all charged in the Court of First Instance with accepting bribes, forgery and criminal complicity.
A Lebanese manager at the bank - who is in charge of running the internal probes and coordinating with the police - said the three bank staff forged certificates, together with the runaway accomplice, which they falsely claimed to be issued by the bank. "The main defendant would receive the details from the runaway accomplice and accordingly fill in the forged bank forms which he would then sign and seal with the bank stamp. They sent the letters to different e-mail addresses. After sending the forged documents online, they would destroy the original copy."
"They were exposed on December 8, 2015, after we were contacted by our branch in South Africa. They wanted to check about a letter which was allegedly issued by our branch. But it turned out that letter was forged," the manager told the prosecutor.
The bank's British regional manager said that the commercial developer and the Filipino accused agreed with the runaway man to forge documents and use the fake copies in return for receiving $10million. The runaway would provide them with the information and details to fill the forms with and the email addresses to which they would later send the forged documents.

• Dubai