DUBAI // One of three men sentenced to imprisonment for using fake UAE residency papers to forge visit visas to Turkey won a reduced sentence on Wednesday.
The Pakistani trio were convicted of forgery, using forged documents and forging the stamps of a number of UAE banks, which they denied at both criminal and appeal courts.
One of them, who was found to be the mastermind behind the scheme, was sentenced to three years in jail, while the other two were sentenced to three months in prison each. The man sentenced to three years appealed and won after Dubai Court of Appeal reduced his jail term to one year.
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Today in court:
■ Dubai office cleaner jailed for stealing Dh6,800 from woman's purse
■ Two men 'get into fistfight at labour camp over attempted car theft'
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Two of them were arrested when they presented the forgeries to the Turkish embassy. During questioning by police, they tipped off the authorities about the third man, the mastermind.
“We received a call from the Turkish embassy, which held the two men until we arrived,” said an Emirati police officer.
The men charged visitors to the UAE Dh7,500 in return for each fake residency visa to help them get entry to Turkey.
Police found several fake bank stamps in the home of the third defendant. “He confessed he had been doing this as a business for a while,” added the officer.
However, in court each of the three men claimed they were given the forgeries by other men.
All three will be deported after serving their terms.
salamir@thenational.ae