Health ministry duo sacked and jailed over Dh213,000 vaccinations scam

Two Emiratis were jailed over sa cam where they cancelled patients' vaccinations records but pocketed the payments.

DUBAI // Two Ministry of Health employees were on Tuesday sacked and jailed for forgery and theft by Dubai Criminal Court.

Emiratis A B, 28, and F A, 26, embezzled more than Dh213,000 by cancelling vaccination records from a clinic database and pocketing patient fees.

A B embezzled Dh174,800 and was sentenced to five years in jail, while F A embezzled Dh38,720 and was handed a three-year jail term.

They were employed to collect fees from residents who received vaccinations before travelling. Prosecutors said they tampered with electronic documents between January 1, 2012 and June 10, 2013.

According to records, A B said that he had cancelled a receipt by mistake when a resident had his vaccination and took the Dh200 fee. Then, after a few months, he decided to do so intentionally and keep the money.

F A discovered what A B was doing and they agreed to split the money and continue with the scam. “I taught F A how to use the system to cancel the fees,” A B said.

Auditor M A, 57, from Yemen, told prosecutors: “My boss told me he suspected staff in the clinic had been cancelling payment receipts and pocketing the money,” M A said.

In addition, A B was fined Dh174,000 and F A was fined Dh38,100.