Two men allegedly stole more than Dh600,000 from a local bank after applying for a loan using forged documents.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that the 28-year-old Indian defendant, who worked as a representative with the bank in question, denied charges of forgery, use of forged documents and fraudulently obtaining Dh635,000 from Mashreq bank. The second defendant, a Pakistani aged 37, remains at large.
Prosecutors said that in April last year, the pair forged a salary certificate supposidly from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority claiming that the Pakistani was an employee with them and received a monthly wage of Dh31,750.
They allegedly also forged a residency visa and a bank statement issued by National Bank of Abu Dhabi before opening an account with Mashreq bank and applying for a personal loan.
"I have done nothing wrong. He gave me the documents when he was applying for the loan," said the Indian defendant in court.
The Emirati bank manager said that after the loan was approved and deposited into the defendant's account, the money was withdrawn before they discovered that the documents submitted were forgeries.
"We were double checking the documents by calling the bodies that issued them and they told us they issued no such letters," said the 43-year-old manager.
"We carried out an internal investigation and questioned the representative. It was strange how fast the application was processed by our employee. He was very tense and avoided answering when we asked him about that and about the whole application."
A verdict will be issued on October 15.