Government employee 'asked for Dh6,000 monthly bribe'

Police say the Ministry of Environment employee agreed on Dh6,000 a month and bonuses from a company to favour its import requests over those from others.

DUBAI // A Ministry of Environment employee has denied asking for a monthly Dh6,000 bribe to favour import applications from an agriculture and veterinary medicine company.
The Dubai Criminal Court heard on Thursday that Egyptian M?A, 59, asked the sales manager of the company to pay him the money each month, in addition to other benefits, in return for helping with procedures and applications at the ministry.
The company's sales manager, A?G, 44, who is also Egyptian, testified that the defendant was one of the employees he met when visiting the ministry to obtain licences for importing pesticides and medicinal chemicals from Europe.
"I met him about two and a half years ago when I registered the names of materials my company wanted to import and he was the one to approve or decline any application for importing materials submitted by any company," he said.
The sales manager said that on September 11 last year, the ministry employee called him and asked to meet.
"When we did, he told me he was looking for a part-time job next to his one with the ministry, then told me that he can work with us as a consultant and help us with the procedures at the ministry for a Dh6,000 salary but on the condition that no one knows about it," A?G told the court.
He said the defendant told him he would ignore applications submitted by other, competing companies and favour his company.
A?G reported his compatriot to police the following day. Officers told A?G to play along with M?A's ploy and gave the sales manager a bugged mobile phone to record their conversations.
During one discussion, the defendant was offered Dh5,000 a month but he refused and demanded Dh8,000, as well as an annual airline ticket, an bonus each year and the opportunity to take a loan from the company. He eventually agreed to Dh6,000.
The ministry employee was arrested on September 24 last year as he was getting out of A?G's car after receiving his first alleged bribe.
The next hearing was set for February 13.
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