UAE telecoms worker ‘forged applications’ to get hands on Dh80,000 worth of iPhones, court hears

Dubai // An Etisalat employee allegedly forged 20 applications to fraudulently obtain iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s smartphones worth about Dh80,000, a court heard.

The accused, SE, allegedly hacked into his colleagues’ computers to process the sales and then he sold on the phones for Dh2,200 each.

Prosecutors said that the man, an Egyptian, who was assigned as a sales executive for Etisalat in 2010, was responsible for promoting the company’s products.

SE, 28, also received and stamped the applications of customers who wished to obtain smartphones from Etisalat as part of its offers.

In February, SE’s colleague discovered that his computer had been logged into by another employee who used his username and password to register two applications for the sales of the Apple smartphones.

“The employee confirmed that he did not make those sales so he suspected that some other employee did. And he informed management,” said Emirati FA, 36, who works for Etisalat’s fraud detection department. It was discovered using surveillance cameras that SE used his computers to make the sales, which turned out to be fake as he took the phones for himself.

SE was asked to make a written confession which he did, according to FA. The court heard that SE confessed to fraudulently obtaining the usernames and passwords of his colleagues and then used them to log into their computers to make the fake sales of 20 smartphones valued at Dh79,272.

“He said that he sold each phone for Dh2,200,” said FA.

SE was not present at Dubai Criminal Court yesterday to face charges of abusing his post and forging official documents as well as using them.

The next hearing will be on November 24 to summon the defendant.