Dubai: A Filipino expat who allegedly lost the funds he had saved for his wife’s delivery to a fraudulent ATM withdrawal has been reimbursed on ‘humanitarian grounds’ by a Dubai bank.
Sales executive Bernardo Umali, 36, who earns Dh7,000 a month, had kept aside funds for the birth of his second child, who was born on June 2.
On May 26 he was aghast at receiving notifications on his mobile phone for two dubious withdrawals from his account.
“I was shocked to see the messages. There were two withdrawals made at around 7.20pm. The first one was for Dh4,500 and a minute later, Dh200 was pulled out. Initially I thought my ATM card was stolen,” he said.
Worst fears
“However, when I checked my wallet and found the card, I was certain I had become victim to some kind of fraud. My worst fears came true when I checked my account online. It showed a withdrawal of Dh4,700 had been made. That’s when I realised I was robbed, and that too just a few days before my wife was to deliver our second child,” added the resident of Al Muteena in Deira.
On reporting the matter to the bank the next day, Umali was told that it would take them 90 days to complete the investigation and settle the matter.
However when XPRESS contacted the bank on Umali’s request, they promised to look into the matter urgently.
“We have decided to temporarily reverse the amount to the customer’s account as an exception till such time our investigation is complete. The matter is solved as of now and the customer is a happy man,” said a bank spokesperson. “Such things happen. It’s not uncommon. Once we establish that Umali’s card chip and pin were indeed stolen and used fraudulently, we will close the case permanently,” he added.
