UAE | Crime
Manager jailed and fined Dh6.4m in 'historic verdict'
A company manager has been jailed and fined Dh6.45 million for employing 94 workers illegally, marking what a senior naturalisation and residency prosecutor described as "historic and unprecedented verdict".
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:32 October 15, 2008
Dubai: A company manager has been jailed and fined Dh6.45 million for employing 94 workers illegally, marking what a senior naturalisation and residency prosecutor described as "historic and unprecedented verdict".
The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Court of First Instance sentenced the 52-year-old Indian manager, P.M., to two months in jail and fined him Dh5 million for hiring 65 people who entered the country illegally. The court slapped additional fine of Dh1.45 million for employing 29 people who were sponsored by others.
The accused, who managed an electro-mechanical company, will also be deported after completing his sentence. The verdict is still subject to appeal.
Ali Humaid Bin Khatim, head of Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution, described the ruling as remarkable and the first of its kind in the country's history "in terms of the fine's heftiness and number of workers who were hired illegally".
"The incident happened last August when the workers complained to the Labour Ministry against P.M., accusing him of not paying their salaries. The authorities' investigations revealed that company manager hired the workers illegally... we detained the 94 workers and the manager as well before they were referred to the Naturalisation and Residency Court," said Bin Khatim.
The head of Dubai's Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution told a press conference yesterday that nine suspects were charged with working on a visit visa and failing to pay their fines for overstaying in the country, 19 suspects were charged with working for different sponsors and 65 suspects were charged with entering the country illegally.
The court awarded the 94 illegal workers (one Sri Lankan, 23 Indians and 70 Bangladeshis) different jail terms (between three and six months) and different fines (between Dh3,000 to Dh4,000). All of them will be deported after serving their sentence.
The Labour Ministry's Undersecretary Humaid Bin Dimas, who attended the hearing, said: "Since His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, described those who hire illegal workers as 'traitors' in April 2007... our cooperation with the Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department and Dubai Police became productive and fruitful. Our cooperation has developed and the punishments have been stiffened because we seek to reach a market free of illegal workers, who represent a menace to our society."
Molestation case: Driver in the dock
A driver has rejected the charge of molesting and enticing a schoolboy with Dh50 to take naked photographs of him and threatening to show it to his father if he did not yield to his sexual desires. "I am not guilty... it didn't happen at all," the 27-year-old Pakistani driver told Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.
Records said a police sergeant busted the suspect, A.S., kissing the schoolboy, M.K., whose clothes were unbuttoned, in the front seat of his car, which was left with its engine running, in front of a mosque.
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