Worker on trial for forging papers to rent car, bootlegging in Dubai

Dubai - He forged a rental contract by filling it with false details.

A worker, who allegedly used another man's driving licence for renting a car, then used it for bootlegging, was charged at a Dubai court.
The public prosecution records show that the 21-year-old Indian worker managed to rent a car from an office in Al Qusais on August 27, 2017, after he presented a driving licence that was not his own. He also forged a rental contract by filling it with false details. He was charged at the Court of First Instance with fraud, wrongful use of an official authentic document, forgery and use of the forged document.
A police sergeant said that he was with another officer at an inspection point in Ras Al Khaimah when they stopped a car. "We asked the driver and his companion to produce the driving licence and car's registration card. However, they showed us a rental car contract issued from an office in Dubai. The driver claimed that his driving licence was at home and that he would have a friend bring it."
The officer went to his patrol car for a moment and when he returned he found the two persons had gone.
The two left the car (which was running) behind. The officer then got the permission to search it over the phone. "We found 75 liquor bottles, 13 cardboard boxes of another liquor brand and eight other boxes in the car," the officer said.
The officer learned later that the suspect who had rented the car left the UAE on September 3, 2017.
An Egyptian PRO, 27, working at the rental office said an Indian man rented a car from them on August 27, 2017. "It was an indefinite contract on a monthly fee of Dh2,500. He took the car after paying Dh1,500 but failed to return it," the witness told the prosecutor. "He did not even settle the entire dues and his phone was switched off."
He added that they received a call from the police telling them they found alcohol in a car belonging to their agency and asking for information about the man who had rented that car.
The other defendant admitted during the public prosecution investigation that he had met a compatriot who was into bootlegging business. He claimed that he was offered Dh1,200 as a monthly salary to transport liquor for him. The bootlegger went with him when he rented the car in Al Qusais and forged and faked a signature on the contract. He admitted that he had run away from the police inspectors when they had issued him a ticket. He then rented a car in Sharjah using the same fraudulent method.
He got stopped by police officers in RAK later while he was transporting alcohol. He confessed that he had duped the rental office employee when he submitted the driving licence of another man and the staff did not spot the difference between him and the licence photo. He claimed that he did not even know the original holder of the licence which was given to him by the bootlegger. He also confessed he had been an illegal resident for six months.
The worker will be sentenced on July 31.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai