DUBAI // A businessman used five middle men in an attempt to convince a Dubai Customs inspector to take a bribe in return for allowing two shipments, supposedly containing banned items, to pass inspection.
Sri Lankan M K, 40, was charged at Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday with offering a Dh28,000 bribe to a public employee in return for him violating the rules and regulations of his position and allowing the shipments to pass through Jebel Ali port.
Indians F P, 31, M S, 46, A A, 47, R M, 36, and 39-year-old A S are all charged with working as middle men between the Sri Lankan and the Emirati customs inspector as they tried to convince him to accept the bribe.
They all denied the charge in court.
Ironically, the two shipments that the inspector refused the bribe for passed the inspection anyway and were not found to be containing any banned items, records show.
The inspector, K S, 25, said that at the end of Ramadan this year defendant F P came to his office to finalise some papers. “They were missing some documents so I asked him to get the documents and come back,” said the Emirati.
“When he returned he started chatting with me and asked for my number, which I gave to him.”
The inspector told of how FP later called him and told him that he wanted help to get a container arriving from Kuwait carrying diesel to pass inspection. The Emirati said he was offered Dh5,000 for this assistance but he played along and asked for more money.
Later he received a call from F P as well as the other Indian defendants asking him to help them bring two containers, offering Dh10,000 for each for his help.
Playing along, the inspector said he wanted more money and the amount was increased to Dh14,000 per container.
He then told police, who arrested F P in a sting operation when he met the inspector and handed him an up-front payment.
During investigations, F P told prosecutors about the other defendants and their involvement in the case, so police arrested them all too.
The next hearing is on November 27.
salamir@thenational.ae
