UAE man embezzles Dh88,000, then pays it from his own pocket

Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

An Asian man who was charged with forgery and robbery, surrendered to the Ras Al Khaimah Criminal Court of Appeal after he was earlier ordered to serve a three-month jail term by the lower court. The defendant had failed to appear at the lower court.
As per court records he was accused of stealing and forging the purchase contracts of 28 cell phones. He also faced charges of embezzling Dh88,000.
As per the prosecution sheet, the suspect forged the purchase contracts of cell phones, and stole some of the smart devices. He was, therefore, charged with forging official documents and misleading the company he worked for by submitting and abusing counterfeit papers.
The accused, who did not show up at the RAK Criminal Court of First instance earlier, appeared at the higher court accompanied by his defence lawyer who challenged the imprisonment verdict passed.
In his plea, the defence lawyer asked the court to set his client free based on the fact that he had reached an amicable settlement with the plaintiff - the company he used to work for which charged him with the crime.
The lawyer submitted the settlement document to the court seeking the exoneration of his client, who also argued that he was only a data entry executive with his company and had nothing to do with the prosecution charges.
He added that the cell phone purchase contracts, let alone dealing with customers, are not part of his responsibility. The defence lawyer told the court that his client worked for the telecommunication company since 2007 during which time he was a reliable, responsible, honest and professional worker.
He only came to know about the cell phone purchase contract forgery in 2014 when some customers received SMS requesting them to pay for the devices they purchased.
Shocked by the baseless purchase messages, the customers approached the company management and denied that they had made any purchases.
Investigations then proved the forgery and embezzlement crime.
The defence lawyer told the court that the company neither ran an internal investigation with the suspect nor proved that he is responsible for the crime. However, his client paid Dh88,000 from his own money to end the lawsuit and clear his name. The ruling by the court is awaited.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com