Pair jailed for Dubai bank loan scam

DUBAI // Two men will each spend three years in jail after being convicted of forging documents to take out loans and run up credit-card debts of almost Dh500,000 from Commercial Bank of Dubai.

Pakistanis G M, 37, and E M, 22, were found guilty of forging an ID and a bank statement. G M used the documents to obtain a Dh480,000 bank loan and spent Dh14,000 on a credit card. E M also tried to apply for a separate Dh490,000 loan by submitting forged papers.

The two were arrested in September last year as they were signing loan papers in a car parked outside a CBD branch.

During an investigation, E M confessed and said a third man, who has left the country, provided them with the forged documents needed for the scam.

S A, head of the anti-fraud unit at CBD, said that G M used the documents to open an account. “He also submitted a letter from his employer and, after checking, we found he was not an employee at that company, so we coordinated with police and found that the identity he impersonated did not exist,” S A said.

This prompted the bank to go through all its loan applications, which resulted in the arrest of E M.

Both men denied the charges. They will be deported after serving their sentences.