A woman who fraudulently obtained more than Dh375,000 from her work by giving them fake expenses receipts will spend six months in jail.
The 50-year-old worked as an administrative manager at a private company that pays for its employees’ rent, electricity bills and child education fees.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that during 2011 she forged 44 receipts that she said were for bills paid to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and pocketed Dh32,383 in payments from her company.
She also forged 40 similar receipts from a private school in Dubai and requested an amount of Dh123,475 from her employer for her daughter’s education. In addition, the Portuguese altered five lease contracts and was paid a total of Dh219,500 by her employer for them.
The woman denied charges of forgery, use of forged documents and fraudulently obtaining Dh375,358 from her company when she appeared in court in June.
The incident came to light in January last year after the company hired a Jordanian auditor, who spotted a difference in some of the receipt serial numbers.
Read more: Mother ‘faked school and electricity receipts to defraud employer'
“The school receipts carried different serial numbers, so I called the school and was told that they didn’t issue any of them,” he said. The auditor then checked all the receipts given to the company by the defendant.
The 36-year-old added that, on one of the electricity bills, he found that the woman forgot to change the flat number and only changed the name of the electricity account owner to hers.
When confronted by her company, the auditor said the defendant admitted to her crimes and said her salary was not enough. She was sacked.
“When we lodged the police complaint she sent an email to the manager of the company trying to reach a settlement,” said the auditor.
The company also filed a civil case against her requesting the amounts she fraudulently obtained be repaid and also seeking compensation.
She will be deported after completing her prison term.