DUBAI // A policeman bribed a passport-control officer to modify Dubai International Airport’s exit records so that more than 550 foreigners could stay and work in the country illegally, a court heard yesterday.
Over a period of a little more than eight months, the passport officer M?A, 24, an Emirati working at Terminal 2, made false entries into the database to make it look as if 569 foreigners had left the country when they had not.
This meant that the travel agencies responsible for arranging the visas would not be fined.
For each false entry, his friend K?A, 28, an Emirati policeman, paid him Dh400 – Dh227,600 in total.
The policeman would send text messages containing the numbers of the foreigners’ passports to the passport officer, who would then access the database and make it look as if they had left the country.
The passports belonged to people from several Asian countries.
A tip-off in July last year alerted the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department to the scam.
“We realised that the exit stamps were made while he was on duty and after going through the surveillance cameras we realised he was entering data while there were no passengers at the counter,” explained M?M, 42, an Emirati at the department.
When arrested, the passport-control officer led authorities to the police officer, who claimed to be acting as a go-between for a third man.
The Criminal Court charged the passport officer with accepting bribes, forging data and using forged electronic documents. It charged the police officer with bribing a public employee, aiding and abetting forgery and using forged documents.
Neither man appeared in court to enter a plea and the case was adjourned to June 24.
wissa@thenational.ae
