The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

 A legal consultant conned his employer out of Dhs145,420 by showing him fake receipts attributed to Dubai Courts.

The Arab defendant, 55, will spend one year behind bars after which he will be deported, the Criminal Court ruled on Tuesday.

“He forged four payment receipts of cases and showed they were issued by the Dubai Courts.

He used them by handing them to his Egyptian employer, 44, at a complaints handling company and pocketed fees he claimed to have paid to the courts. During a hearing on Mar.17, the defendant denied the charges.

The employer complained before police and prosecutors that he tasked the defendant with following up with complaints filed by his company against other companies besides other matters and paying fees to courts.

“I would hand him fees required for filing complaints. I later discovered he was photocopying court receipts, faking them and sending me their counterfeit copies on WhatsApp. He did this and embezzled all the fees.”

The employer said he went with copies of receipts to the courts and confirmed they were fake. He also learnt from the courts’ collection section that the defendant did not make payments. He contacted the police.

A female witness testified that she was at the company when a man arrived saying he had come to intercede with the employer for the defendant in order to find an amicable solution regarding the money he embezzled.

The employer’s representative told the man to contact the defendant. He placed the phone in loud mode. The representative told the defendant it was shameful for a legal consultant to counterfeit court receipts.

“I heard him telling the representative that they were workmates and that he sent the man to solve the matter.

“The representative told him the matter would be referred to prosecutors,” said the witness, adding that she heard the defendant stating that he had children to look after.