Woman used neighbours’ ID cards to rack up Dh21,000 in phone bills, court hears

DUBAI// A 33-year-old Jordanian used her neighbours’ Emirates ID cards to run up thousand of dirhams in phone bills from Etisalat.

“She used to visit me a lot and seek financial help because she said she suffered from cancer. She also asked me several times for a copy of my ID which I didn’t give her. I don’t know how she managed to get hold of it,” said an Egyptian victim.

A second neighbour, also Egyptian, told prosecutors she was contacted by Etisalat because of unpaid bills for two numbers totalling Dh21,000.

“I told them these numbers do not belong to me,” said the 39-year-old, who visited an Etisalat store and discovered that the defendant had obtained two sim cards using a copy of her ID.

The Egyptian housewife said she had given the defendant her ID after she told her she needed to receive a money transfer and did not have any ID of her own.

“I then reported her to police,” said the woman.

A third victim, a 43-year-old woman from Sudan, said the Jordanian often visited her home. “She used to tell me that she does charity works and that she would need a copy of my ID if I wanted to participate, so I gave it to her.”

She added that a while later she was contacted by Etisalat because of an unpaid Dh7,500 phone bill.

“After double checking it turned out she had been issued numbers from Etisalat using my ID.”

Prosecutors said the defendant confessed to charges of forgery, use of forged documents and fraudulently obtaining Etisalat numbers, E-life services and a landline.

The incidents happened on May 30, 2013 and before that date. It was not clear why the case took three years to get to court.

The woman was not present at the Dubai Criminal Court to enter a plea.

The next hearing will be on August 11.