Dubai Police officer 'used his uniform' to avoid paying for petrol

Officer would pretend to have no cash, promising to return with money, but never did

Fuel prices for November have been announced. Amy Leang / The National

A Dubai Police officer frequently filled his car with petrol over a nine-month period without paying for it, a court has heard.

The Emirati was charged with fraudulently obtaining Dh4,201 worth of petrol from Enoc stations across Dubai, between February and November last year.

Prosecutors said the 23-year-old dressed in his uniform to appear trustworthy when filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser.

He would then tell attendants he had no cash with him and promise to return later to settle payment.

He was eventually found out when an attendant at the station, who took down the car plate number, arranged to trace the actual car owner, who was a friend of the officer.

“They called me, thinking I was the one filling up my tank and not paying,” said a 22-year-old Emirati man.

“So I called my friend and he promised to pay but he didn’t and the calls from the petrol station didn’t stop until they filed a complaint against him,” he said.

He told the court that the defendant asked him to register the car in his name because his passport was being processed at work.

On November 13, an Enoc representative filed a report against the defendant at Al Qusais police station.

During questioning, he admitted to not paying for his petrol, saying he did not have money because his salary had been suspended for 10 months due to unjustified and repeated absences from work.

When asked why the car was not registered in his name, he said his traffic file was on hold because he had more than Dh70,000 in fines which he didn’t pay.

He was given a suspended sentence of two months in prison, meaning he would only serve time behind bars if he repeated the offence.