Dubai An employee has been jailed for one year for presenting a forged medical prescription that he obtained from his country to Dubai prosecutors while being questioned in a drug case.
The 30-year-old Egyptian employee, A,F., is believed to have obtained the forged hospital report that doctors prescribed to him saying that he has to consume tramadol. He also had that report stamped by the UAE Embassy in Cairo.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found A.F. guilty of using that hospital report and presenting it to Drugs Prosecution in Dubai when he was being questioned for consuming tramadol.
When the defendant showed up in court, he claimed that he did not need to forge a medical report to consume tramadol because he was under medication in a Cairo hospital following an accident
“Doctors gave me that report,” the accused argued when he entered a not guilty plea before presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat.
“The forged medical report will be confiscated meanwhile the accused will be deported after serving his imprisonment,” said presiding judge Abdul Lat in courtroom three on Thursday.
Prosecutors said A.F. forged the medical report and had it stamped by embassy staff in Egypt. He was also accused of using the forged report and producing it during prosecution questioning. He was also charged with consuming a mind-altering substance.
When asked why he forged the report, the defendant claimed: “I have nothing to do with the forgery. I asked my parents to send me the medical report and I received it by courier. I did not know that it was forged.”
When asked whether he knew that the report was forged, the defendant explained that he did not need to forge the prescription
“I have a medical file in that hospital. I had an accident during my stay in Egypt and I was admitted to that hospital for treatment. I have asked my parents to send me the official report. I consumed tramadol as per that medical prescription,” concluded the accused.
Thursday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
