Defendant surprises own lawyer by admitting to forgery charges

ABU DHABI // The man accused of illegally importing military-grade electronic equipment into the country confessed in court on Monday to forging documents and stamps, to the surprise of even his own lawyer.

M K S, 46, an Arab, is standing trial at the Federal Supreme Court for importing “three to four medium-sized cartons that contained small electronic devices” from the US and China, without abiding by the UAE’s procedures and regulations.

The shop owner is also accused of forging documents purporting to be from governmental entities stating that the devices were required here.

The defendant had previously denied all allegations. On Monday, however, he admitted to the court he had forged documents and created counterfeit official stamps, but insisted he did not use them.

“The company sent the devices without the need for the documents,” he said.

“I created the stamps as an experiment. I created them but did not use them.”

The court had previously heard he intended to send the equipment to a weapons development research centre in his hometown.

The name of this town cannot be disclosed after orders from the judge to protect the defendant’s family.

The court also heard from a witness who said the equipment manufacturer asked M K S to provide the name of the entity that would use the devices, which forced the defendant to forge documents.

The defendant’s lawyer, Yousef Al Ali, requested an adjournment to be able to put together a new defence statement after his client’s confession.

Judge Falah Al Hajeri approved the lawyer’s request and the case was adjourned to April 20.