13 February 2008
The Primary Court and Prosecution of Public Money announced their judgment in case number 37 of 2003 concerning the embezzlement of money from the Airplane Fueling Administration, an affiliate of the Yemen Petroleum Company, at Sana'a airport. The case was presided over by Judge Abdulrazaq Saeed al-Akohaly and attended by Public Money Prosecutor Ramzi Abdullah al-Shawafi. The first defendant received three years imprisonment and a $360,229 fine. The second defendant will serve two years imprisonment and receive a fine of $110,016. Four of the other suspects were acquitted, while the seventh suspect's case was closed due to his death.
The total amount which is to be refunded to the public treasury amounted to $479,312, the equivalent of YR49,062,000.
The indictment statement in the Sana'a airplane fueling case cited the embezzled amount at more than $650,000 over a period of ten years. The accused had forged official documents, whose damage was estimated to exceed $130 million.
The court then continued looking into another seven cases. One of these is the case of the forgery of official documents, employment decisions and preparation of fraudulent payroll lists for more than 1,419 persons who were said to have been employed at the Al-Jof health office in 2002, where the accused seized YR 20,142,573 in public funds.
During the session, Judge al-Akhali ordered the public money prosecution to bring the original documents before the second court session in order to determine the liability of each of the suspects, and to submit the documents to the criminal laboratory for analysis of the forged signatures.
The court ordered one of the Ministry of Finance's deputy ministers to stand before the court, to answer why he had stalled in sending the official documents which the court demanded in order to present them to the accused.
Judge Ali al-Omisi, a member of the Public Money Court, headed a session trying 12 different cases, including one concerned with the issuing of 4 uncovered cheques to the tax department and another for the Ahli bank. There are 4 additional cases of people evading paying zakat.
The Primary Court and Prosecution of Public Money announced their judgment in case number 37 of 2003 concerning the embezzlement of money from the Airplane Fueling Administration, an affiliate of the Yemen Petroleum Company, at Sana'a airport. The case was presided over by Judge Abdulrazaq Saeed al-Akohaly and attended by Public Money Prosecutor Ramzi Abdullah al-Shawafi. The first defendant received three years imprisonment and a $360,229 fine. The second defendant will serve two years imprisonment and receive a fine of $110,016. Four of the other suspects were acquitted, while the seventh suspect's case was closed due to his death.
The total amount which is to be refunded to the public treasury amounted to $479,312, the equivalent of YR49,062,000.
The indictment statement in the Sana'a airplane fueling case cited the embezzled amount at more than $650,000 over a period of ten years. The accused had forged official documents, whose damage was estimated to exceed $130 million.
The court then continued looking into another seven cases. One of these is the case of the forgery of official documents, employment decisions and preparation of fraudulent payroll lists for more than 1,419 persons who were said to have been employed at the Al-Jof health office in 2002, where the accused seized YR 20,142,573 in public funds.
During the session, Judge al-Akhali ordered the public money prosecution to bring the original documents before the second court session in order to determine the liability of each of the suspects, and to submit the documents to the criminal laboratory for analysis of the forged signatures.
The court ordered one of the Ministry of Finance's deputy ministers to stand before the court, to answer why he had stalled in sending the official documents which the court demanded in order to present them to the accused.
Judge Ali al-Omisi, a member of the Public Money Court, headed a session trying 12 different cases, including one concerned with the issuing of 4 uncovered cheques to the tax department and another for the Ahli bank. There are 4 additional cases of people evading paying zakat.
By Observer Staff
© Yemen Observer 2008
