UAE- Manager's conviction of Dh2.5 million embezzlement upheld
Date
8/27/2012 1:31:49 AM
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A former human resource manager of a firm owned by Dubai World had his 10-year imprisonment recently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The manager, a British man, was imprisoned for embezzling Dh2.5 million from his workplace during his tenure.
The Court of Appeal also upheld the two-year additional prison sentence given by a lower court to the 45-year-old former manager for forgery charges. The order to have the accused return the embezzled sum of Dh2.5m to the complainant and pay the same sum in fines was also upheld.
The appellate court also upheld the deportation order against the defendant.
The verdict is subject to appeal within 30 days at the Court of Cassation. The defendant was convicted in April by the Court of First Instance.
The Public Prosecution accused the defendant of embezzling Dh2.1m from his workplace by claiming the money was to be given to a recruitment agency for hiring 13 employees at the defendant's workplace. However, the agency later turned out to be his own in the UK.
He is believed to have embezzled the remaining amount by alleging that the company owed to an employee he hired as a head of protocol for the firm's branch in Moscow. But it turned out that such an employee did not exist and was a mere creation by the defendant.
The fictitious employee's dues were wired to a bank account belonging to the defendant in Cyprus.
In addition, the accused submitted fake diplomas to his workplace stating that he had studied physics and business administration in universities in the UK.
He also submitted fake experience certificates stating that he had worked for companies including some in the UK and Singapore.
He faced charges of embezzlement of public funds (which were entrusted to him while assigned with a public service), forgery and use of forged documents.
He worked for the complainant from January 2007 to June 2008 and absconded after his wrongdoings were exposed.
According to prosecution witnesses, the defendant purchased one of his diplomas from the UK for £40.
His academic qualifications were limited to high school.
The head of the Strategy Section (a Jordanian) at the complainant said that the discrepancy came to light when they found out about the contract of a fictitious employee with a monthly salary of Dh125,000 and his residence in Cyprus.
The section head came across money wiring totalling more than Dh298,000 worth of salary dues to a bank account in Cyprus.
They also came across business deals between the complainant and a British company owned by the defendant worth more than Dh2m. The deals were about the recruitment of staff and it turned that the 13 staff were hired directly by the complainant.
But 'commissions' for their recruitment were wired to a bank account in Cyprus, belonging to the accused.
An auditor confirmed the money wiring transactions were done by the defendant during his work for the complainant.
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