A man and his accomplices allegedly embezzled Dh2.4 million ($653,336) from the bank account of a businessman while he was abroad.
The Court of First Instance heard how another businessman - 36-year-old - obtained a SIM card replacement on the victim’s behalf and activated a bank card in his name to withdraw huge amounts of money from his bank accounts.
The defendant and other runaways forged a power of attorney document and an Emirates ID card.
They applied for and received a bank card and a cheque book in the victim’s name.
They made purchases and withdrawal transactions with the bank card and 11 forged cheques worth Dh 2.4 m ($653,336).
The case dates back to January, last year, and a complaint was filed at Al Muraqqabat police station.
The Public Prosecution urged the court to inflict the strictest penalty on the defendant when they referred him on forgery and fraud charges.
The victim, a 64-year-old business partner, said he left the UAE on January 20, 2017, to India, his mobile phone line got off service and he stopped receiving SMS alerts from his bank.
“I had my own doubts as I am a businessman and I received lots of such alerts about business transactions. When I contacted my bank on January 29, I was told Dh 2.4 m ($653,336) had been withdrawn in many transactions.
“The purchases and cash withdrawal transactions were done with a card that was issued after my departure from the country. Cheques were encashed in my name and the cheque book had also been issued while I was out of town.”
The bank customer returned the next day to the UAE. “I learned someone had applied for a SIM card replacement in my name on the same line registered with the bank and misused it,” the victim said.
A legal investigator at the bank said, “we conducted an internal probe and found the bank card was issued on January 23, last year, after someone contacted the bank from the victim’s personal number saved in our records and impersonated him. He claimed he lost his bank card and applied for a new one. His request was approved after he answered all the security questions.”
A sales supervisor at the courier shipment company said their employee completed all the necessary procedure (taking a copy from the customer’s original ID and his signature) when delivering the bank card and cheque book to the alleged fraudster.
The police got a copy of the CCTV footage showing the latter collecting the package sent by the bank.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
