Clerk embezzles Dh70,000 VAT refund in Dubai

Dubai - The expat has been jailed for six months.

A clerk, who embezzled Dh69,311 while working at a tax refunding company, has been jailed for six months by the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to public prosecution records, the 34-year-old Filipino clerk was an employee at a company at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport when he committed financial irregularities.
He was given access to the company's e-system and was authorised with refunding the travellers who claim the VAT back.
He tampered with electronic data and stole the money on different occasions. He would save the claimants' personal details in the system and falsely state in the company's records that the refunding was by cash. But he would deposit later into credit cards that did not belong to the claimants. He denied earlier charges of embezzlement and e-forgery in court.
He will be deported after completing his time in jail.
The wrongdoings happened between January 21 and March 31.
The general manager of the company told the prosecutor that they found out the embezzlement after a tourist approached them with a complaint that he did not get the VAT refund. "He said the money was not deposited on his credit card. When we looked into the defendant's transactions, we noticed some travellers had requested to get their money back in cash but failed to get it because they did not want to miss their flights. We also found out that the defendant changed in the system the payment mode to credit card."
According to the general manager, the clerk used two credit cards repeatedly in most of such transactions. "He abused his post to pocket the travellers' money for himself."
The clerk did not file an appeal.

• Dubai