Dubai: A woman corporal at Dubai’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs [GDRFA], a company representative and two typists have been accused of processing 127 forged family visas using forged Ejari contracts.

The Emirati company representative, Z.H., was said to have accepted Dh920,000 in bribes from the two Indian typists, S.P. and C.A., to forge 90 photocopies of forged Ejari contracts that she produced to the GDRFA’s corporal, A.M., to process 127 visas for family members in 2015.

S.P. and C.A. used to forge copies of Ejari contracts and handed them to Z.H. who, according to records, took bribes to use her influence with A.M. to issue family visas illegally.

Prosecutors charged the four with bribery, forging copies of official documents [Ejari contracts] and tampering with government electronic documents [e-transactions to process visas] and using the forged papers.

Being the only suspect who appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday, Z.H. pleaded not guilty and denied the accusation of accepting bribes.

“I did not take any bribe,” she told presiding judge Mohammad Jamal.

The remaining suspect failed to show up in court and enter their pleas.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said A.M. abused her former job as a corporal stationed at one of GDRFA’s branches and collected the forged papers from Z.H., who constantly visited the same branch for her company’s transactions.

Prosecutors said S.P. and C.A., who both worked in typing centres, used to forge the Ejari contracts on Adobe Photoshop and hand the forged copies to Z.H., who would take the illegal papers and hand them to A.M. to process family visas or residencies in an illegal manner between February and May last year. A GDRFA officer testified to prosecutors that an informant alerted them that A.M. was involved in illegal activities and issuing family visas for individuals [vendors or those paid less than Dh4,000], who do not qualify to have visas processed for their relatives

“The informant claimed to us that Z.H., who worked as a representative for a number of companies, had been involved in illegal practices and applying illegal transactions to obtain family visas for Asian individuals. According to the informant’s tip off, those individuals did not qualify for visas but Z.H. took advantage of the fact that her sister worked in the same branch with A.M. The latter used to receive Z.H. at her office and collect forged papers [copies of Ejari contracts] … then apply through GDRFA’s e-system applications to issue family visas despite her knowledge that those transactions were illegal. A special team was dispatched to the branch … the two women were apprehended for indulging in illegal activity. Primary interrogations revealed the typists used to forge copies of Ejari contracts for Dh200 per person. Z.H. used to collect the money as bribe and give the forged copies to A.M. to process family visas illegally,” the officer testified to prosecutors.

The trial continues.