DUBAI // A financial manager who embezzled more than Dh1 million from the bank where he worked and then fled the country was on Sunday sentenced to five years in jail.
Dubai Criminal Court also ordered Palestinian A S, 41, to pay back Dh201,000 to Samba Bank and another Dh500 in lawyers’ fees.
A S, who was not in court to enter a plea at his trial in January and is still at large, had opened five accounts under his name at other banks, before issuing five cheques totalling Dh1,012,800 to himself from Samba Bank.
N A, 39, an Emirati section head at the bank, testified that in July 2010, A S was acting suspiciously and had taken two unreported leave days.
“I had the auditing team double check his work and then they discovered the embezzlement,” he said. By the time the fraud was discovered, A S had left the country.
“We tried to call him several times to solve the issue but his phone was turned off, therefore we reported him to police,” said N A.
A B, 38, the head of internal audit department at Samba Bank, said he had carried out the auditing of A S’s work.
He said A S had managed to embezzle the money as his job involved clearing cheques.
salamir@thenational.ae
