Jail for man who offered policeman a bribe

A Pakistani man who accumulated more than Dh50,000 in fines for overstaying his visa then offered a policeman a bribe to issue him a departure order without paying the fines has been jailed for a year.

DUBAI // A man who accumulated Dh52,000 in fines for overstaying after his visa expired, and then tried to bribe a policeman into issuing him a departure order without paying the fines, has been jailed for a year.

Dubai Criminal Court found S M, 43, a Pakistani, guilty of offering a public employee a Dh5,000 bribe. He was also found guilty of overstaying his visa and failing to pay his fines. S M denied all charges in court last November.

A S, 31, testified that he was assigned on September 10 last year to contact the defendant regarding his overstay fines. “When I did, he offered me a Dh5,000 bribe to help him exit the country without paying his dues.”

The officer told his manager, who directed him to play along. He arranged to meet the Pakistani the following day to take the money and S M’s passport to cancel his fines. “When we met he said he would only hand me the money after I had canceled his fines, which the management and police approved.

“When I gave him the document to show that his fines were cancelled, he handed me the bribe and the police arrested him,” said A S.

S M was fined Dh2,000 and will be deported after serving his jail term.