RTA employee jailed for issuing 180 licences to drivers who had failed their test

The 36-year-old Emirati denied charges of forgery when he appeared in Dubai Criminal Court last February.

DUBAI // A Roads and Transport Authority employee who issued licences to 180 people who had not passed their driving tests has been sentenced to six months in jail and fined Dh150,000.

The 36-year-old Emirati denied charges of forgery when he appeared in Dubai Criminal Court in February.

The forgeries were made in 2011 and were discovered when police contacted the RTA requesting them to check the licences belonging to eight drivers who had broken traffic laws.

“I checked the eight licences and discovered they were not genuine,” said an RTA official, adding that all eight were issued using the defendant’s account.

“Then I double checked all the licences he had issued and discovered that he issued 180 in the same way,”

He said the defendant would issue licences without asking for any official documents and without their owners passing a driving test.

It was not mentioned in court records whether the defendant took bribes in return for issuing the licences.

The court was told a driver who got his licence from the defendant had paid Dh17,000 to a Pakistani man but he did not mention knowing the Emirati.

The court’s verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.