Man admits Dh1.3m fraud scheme

A contractor admits to stealing Dh1.3million from DP World and bribing employees, a Dubai court has heard.

DUBAI // A contractor admitted yesterday to stealing Dh1.3 million (US$354,000) from DP World and bribing employees, the Dubai Court of First Instance heard. The man, 38, is accused of filing false reports that included "fake quotations" and "imaginary prices" for construction and maintenance of DP World projects. The company owns and operates container ports. Officials said the defendant and two accomplices set up two companies, SBI Gulf and Al Maysour Contractors, using forged paperwork and licences. They then provided DP World with inflated quotations and forged the signatures of senior company officials, the court was told.

The defendant also bribed a DP World engineer to ignore his fraud operation and to fake receipts, and gave another worker from the company Dh5,000 to "neglect one of his duties", officials said. The defendants were arrested last month and remain free on bail. Their passports have been confiscated. The DP World employee in charge of health and safety standards also has been charged with failing to report the contractors' violations.

"The two companies took Dh950,000 and Dh350,000 between them," said Abdullah Obaid, a DP World legal representative. A secondary hearing has been adjourned to June 21, where more testimony will be heard. [e-mail]