Ex-company director used 600 SIM cards in Dhs8.6m fraud scheme in Dubai

Dubai Court of First Instance obligated a former manager to return Dhs8.647 million plus 5 per cent interest from the date the judgment became final until full payment and to pay the incurred charges, expenses and lawyer’s fees, after he had been convicted in the Criminal Court of embezzling public funds, intentional damage and money laundering.

The case file revealed that the defendant held the position of director of Internal Audit Department from December 2006 to December 2024. As part of his authorities, he was entitled to order SIM cards for use in testing the electronic systems of the company where he worked.

Hundreds of SIM cards ordered were pre-loaded with credit that could be used for online purchases through electronic platforms and could be topped up without direct approval.

In September 2024, the Revenue Audit Department detected regular purchases of large sums made through the internal audit team’s account. The incident response team then launched an internal investigation, which uncovered the use of over 600 SIM cards to make thousands of purchases.

The police were notified of the incident and the defendant was charged with embezzlement. The General Department of Criminal Investigation (CID) conducted technical and financial investigations, which revealed that approximately 25,000 purchases totaling over Dhs8.6 million had been made through two apps owned by the defendant, one of which was linked to his own company registered in an African country.

Further investigations showed that the proceeds from these purchases were deposited into the company’s account before being transferred to the defendant’s personal account within the country, and from there to external accounts belonging to him, his wife or other parties.

On interrogation, the defendant admitted to the prosecution that he used the two apps to complete purchases through online stores, taking advantage of purchase limits of approximately Dhs300 per transaction.

Technical and advisory reports also confirmed that the phone credit on the SIM cards was used to execute 24,988 purchases between 2016 and October 2024 and that the defendant was the ultimate beneficiary of the funds.

The Public Prosecution referred the defendant to the Dubai Criminal Court, which convicted him of embezzling funds, misusing the entity’s funds and money laundering.