Thursday, Apr 10, 2014
Dubai: A worker, who is accused of swindling two men for Dh12,000 after issuing them forged work visas, was arrested shortly before he boarded on a Pakistan-bound plane at the airport.
The 24-year-old Pakistani worker, F.A., was said to have lured the men into paying him Dh12,000 with the promise of finding them work at a security company in Dubai.
As soon as the security company notified the men that their work visas were forged and did not allow them to work as security guards, the men immediately reported the matter to the police.
Records show that a police patrol was dispatched to F.A.’s house to have him arrested, but when he was not found, so policemen circulated his name across UAE boarder outlets.
Police arrested the defendant shortly before he boarded the plane along with his family at Dubai International Airport in January.
Prosecutors accused F.A. of forging work visas for the Asian men and duping and swindling them.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the suspect forged photocopies of the visas [at Dh6,000 per visa] and gave them to the men. Then he claimed that the work visas would entitle the men to work for the security company.
Denial
The defendant, who is in custody, pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
“I did not forge any document. Sir I do not know how to use or work on a computer,” argued F.A. when he defended himself in courtroom three on Thursday.
When presiding judge Urfan Omar asked the suspect about his defence, F.A. asked for an adjournment to study the case file and present his defence argument.
A policeman testified to prosecutors: “The Asian claimants alleged that F.A. collected Dh12,000 from them against two work visas. The men claimed that they collected the photocopies of their visas and headed to the company to report to work… they were informed by the management that the visas were forged. They were also told that the company did not process visas to anyone. A police patrol raided the defendant’s place, but he was gone. However the defendant was arrested at the airport before he could travel. During questioning, the suspect alleged that his countryman named Asghar emailed him the visas from Pakistan and he was aware that they were forged. F.A. told the police that he ran away with his family once he learnt that he had been exposed.”
Records cited the defendant admitting that he had previously forged Pakistani passports, Emirates identity cards and visit visas previously.
The trial continues.
By Bassam Zaza Legal and Court ?Correspondent
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
