Twelve men who fraudulently obtained a SIM card and used it to drain a policeman’s bank account have been sentenced to jail and a collective fine of almost Dh2 million.
In January 2016, one of the defendants, an Indian sales executive who worked at a bank in Dubai's Al Rashidiya, passed on the details of an Emirati policeman's bank account to five accomplices.
The men then bribed a telecom company employee, offering him Dh10,000 to issue them with a SIM card bearing the policeman's number.
While the man was overseas, the replacement SIM was used to activate his online banking services and receive bank pin codes.
The men transferred Dh175,000 from the policeman's account.
After the policeman contacted the bank to inquire about money missing from his account, the robbery was reported to police.
During questioning, all 12 men admitted to the crime; however they denied charges of abusing their position, breach of trust, offering a bribe, forgery, use of forged documents, aiding and abetting a crime and obtaining money fraudulently at the Dubai Criminal Court last March.
The men were found guilty and received sentences of between three months and two years in prison and were fined a total of Dh1,960,000.
They will all be deported after serving their prison terms.