DUBAI The trail of missing deposits totalling more than Dh1 million was uncovered when a banker faced charges of embezzlement in a Dubai court on Wednesday.
N.T., a 39-year-old Jordanian banker with Dubai Islamic Bank, stood trial before the Court of First Instance for embezzlement of funds by squirrelling away payments from customers who had settled their bank loans through a loan recovery agency.
Prosecutors charged the banker with skimming off money while working at Dubai Islamic Bank between 2009 and 2011.
The accused denied the charges in court, which also heard prosecution witnesses.
A.A., a 30-year-old Emirati legal consultant, testified for the prosecution, saying that the scam unravelled when a customer complained that she was being asked by the bank to pay a loan amount when she had already paid the bank Dh4,800 through a debt recovery company.
“Our client was asked to pay the loan settlement amount she owed to the bank as per the agreement. My client had already made the payment through Al Wasel International Co. Therefore, she filed a complaint against the bank asking about her payment,” A.A. told the court.
The complaint triggered an internal investigation in the bank, which led senior officials to discover that the discrepancy was not the first of its kind.
Bank officials discovered that a total of Dh1,044,673.58 had gone missing.
Shocked beyond belief, the bank formed an investigating committee to look into the case.
N.T., along with every other employee linked to the discrepancy, was investigated.
Responding to the allegations, N.T. said he was told by his line manager N.A., a 46-year-old Jordanian and banker, to take the Dh4,800 and deposit it in the bank despite the fact that only N.A. and another person was authorised to receive deposits from customers.
N.A., however, denied N.T.’s allegations and filed a police complaint against the accused.
N.A. testified to the team that N.T. single-handedly squirrelled away the money. However, N.A. is currently out of the country.
N.T. denied the charge before the court, claiming that he received and took the deposits only upon his manager’s orders.
The next hearing is on November 14.
