Employee jailed for accessing RTA system illegally

Dubai:

An employee at the Roads and Transport Authority [RTA] has been jailed for 6 months for accessing the e-system illegally and releasing mortgaged cars in favour of another suspect, who sold them.

The Yemeni defendant, H.A., abused the authority granted to him formerly at RTA and accessing the electronic system to unfreeze the property of four cars that were mortgaged to a local bank.

Then he transferred the property of the vehicles to a Syrian suspect [who remains at large] to sell them and appropriate their value in 2009.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted H.A. of forging an electronic transaction and aiding and abetting the Syrian [M.M.] in appropriating the cars’ value after selling them.

The accused pleaded not guilty contending that he did not abuse his authority and did not forge any papers.

“The accused will pay a fine of Dh150,000 and will be deported after serving his punishment,” said presiding judge Ezzat Mansour on Thursday.

Records said the accused forged an e-transaction and released the mortgaged cars — three Volvos and a Mercedes.

However there was mention as to why the case was referred to court recently although the incident happened in 2009.

An RTA officer testified that he received an SMS alert from the local bank notifying him that the mortgaged cars had been sold.

“The bank confirmed that the cars had been exported as well. We checked the RTA’s records and discovered that the cars’ mortgage had been released from H.A.’s access system. We reported the matter to the police,” he said.

A Syrian employee said the runaway suspect visited the bank in 2009 to have the cars financed by the bank.

“The bank discovered that M.M. had sold the cars despite the fact that they were mortgaged. When we checked with RTA, we were informed that H.A. had released the mortgage,” he claimed.

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