Duo jailed over fraud in Dhs953,000 telco services in Dubai
- Last updated: October 17, 2019 | 00:00
Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter
Two sales executives of a telecom company who faked documents to swindle 142 mobiles that were used to incur Dhs953, 680 in unpaid bills were imprisoned on Wednesday.
The Asian defendant, 30, and his colleague, 26, were working at the company’s outlet inside a trading centre in Al Rifa’a area when they committed the crimes between Jan.2016 and Jan.2017, prosecutors explained.
They illicitly accessed the company’s e-system, counterfeit transactions and sold out smartphone data plans to individuals and companies for their personal gains. They illicitly sold 157 SIM cards and 142 smartphones. The incident came to light after 36 customers complained against receiving bills for phone numbers they did not own. The Criminal Court immured each one for one year plus deportation and a Dhs20, 000 fine.
On the record, an Emirati auditor testified that the internal audit section received several complaints from customers saying that there were phone numbers in their names which they did not actually apply for.
“Investigations revealed transactions were processed using the usernames and passwords of the defendant and his colleague. Documents attached to applications such as salary certificates were altered photocopies. Others were entirely fake. We tried to contact the supposed applicants’ workplaces and failed,” said the Emirati auditor. Twenty three mentioned companies where the supposed applicants worked did not exist.
Other companies were in the Free Zone area or had different names and contact numbers. They used counterfeit trade licences. In some transactions, applicants’ signatures differed from those on their identity cards. During workplace questioning, the defendant said he was in touch with a man who habitually supplied him with names of applicants. He added that he committed the crimes with his colleague using their eligibilities.
The colleague said he was in touch with dealers he used to supply phones to. They would present him documents of applicants. An audit report showed the defendant caused Dhs654, 490 losses. The colleague Dhs299, 190 losses.