4 jailed for phone and data package racket

Dubai: Four men were on Sunday jailed for five years for defrauding etisalat of more than Dh840,000 by producing fake bills and selling smartphone packages and data bundles using more than 300 forged applications.

The accused — three Egyptians and a Filipino — forged hundreds of applications to sell smartphone packages and data bundles worth around Dh570,000 and made bills worth around Dh270,000 between October 2013 and July 2014.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal ordered the defendants to repay Dh502,000 of the embezzled amount and also imposed fines on them. “The defendants will be deported following the completion of their punishments. The forged papers will be confiscated,” he said.

The defendants forged applications under names of phoney clients using photocopies of Emirates IDs, passports, credit cards, salary certificates and other documents, according to records.

The Filipino defendant, A.R., a salesman, and an Egyptian driver, A.M., who worked for a company affiliated with etisalat that is based at Dubai International Airport, were treated as public employees in the case.

Records said A.R., A.M., and two Egyptians, A.F., a clerk, and O.M., a driver, forged etisalat applications to sell iPhones and Samsung phones along with data bundles and internet connections to the tune of Dh840,000.

According to Sunday’s ruling, A.R. accessed the etisalat system to register each application in the name of a phoney client to sell smartphones along with data bundles at rates cheaper than the market price.

A.M. provided the Filipino with forged documents to get the smartphones from the warehouse so they could be sold in the market.

The Filipino defendant also accessed five of his colleagues’ systems unlawfully to register a long list of the forged applications.

Records said that when A.M. (who remains at large) left Dubai, he contacted A.R. from Egypt and asked him to communicate with A.F. and O.M. to continue doing what they had been doing.

Due to jurisdictional factors, presiding judge Jamal referred an Iranian vendor, I.A., to the Dubai Misdemeanours Court where he will be tried for aiding and abetting the convicts.

The Iranian was found to be in possession of a 100 iPhone 5 phone models and sold them at the phone store where he worked.

A.R. pleaded guilty.

The remaining defendants (except for A.M. who has absconded) pleaded not guilty.

“A.M. [the absconder] forged all the papers and possessed the phones before he absconded. When we shared the same accommodation, he used my laptop without my knowledge and forged the papers,” A.F. told the court.

O.M. argued that he did not work for etisalat and did not participate in the crime or forge any documents.

An etisalat executive said A.R. abused the authority granted to him to access the system and key to key in the details of phoney clients in forged applications to sell the smartphones and data bundles.

A police lieutenant told prosecutors that A.R. was the first to be arrested followed by the rest.

Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.