Fake Dubai inspectors sentenced to one year in prison

Suspended sentence for trying to shake down building owners with a fine.

DUBAI // Three men got a one-year suspended prison sentence this morning for posing as Dubai municipality inspectors and issuing a fine of Dh300,000.
NM, 43, an Emirati, was convicted of forging and using an official document; HO, 34, also an Emirati, was convicted of using the document. JS, an Indian, was convicted of paying them Dh150,000 to carry out the scheme and got a one-year suspended sentence. He was not present in court.
NM and HO posed to a worker at the building as inspectors and handed him the fine in September 2010. SS, a partner in the company that owns the building, told prosecutors JS said he could help them reduce the fine.
JS told him that NM was his sponsor and had strong relations with senior executives at the municipality that could help them reduce the fine to Dh150,000.
They asked him to pay them the money in exchange for canceling the fine, records said.
SS sent a representative to the municipality to check on the matter and found out there was no such fine. He then told the municipality about the incident, and officials there told him to stall.
After several more visits from the defendants, SS reported the incident to police.
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