Dubai: A Roads and Transport Authority [RTA] employee has been accused of accessing the e-system unlawfully and releasing four mortgaged cars in favour of another suspect who sold them.

The 29-year-old Yemeni suspect, H.A., was said to have 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.

Prosecutors accused H.A. of forging an electronic transaction and aiding and abetting the Syrian [M.M.] in appropriating the cars’ value after selling them.

The defendant entered a not guilty plea and strongly refuted his accusations when he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

“I did not abuse the authority granted to me and I did not forge anything. I am not guilty,” H.A. was heard telling presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the suspect forged an e-transaction and released the mortgaged cars — three Volvos and a Mercedes.

Records did not specify why the case was referred to court on Monday although the alleged incident happened in 2009.

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

“The bank also informed me that the cars had been exported. We checked the RTA’s records and discovered that the cars’ mortgage had been released from the suspect’s access system. Thereafter we reported the matter to the police,” he claimed to prosecutors.

A Syrian employee testified to prosecutors that 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.

The Yemeni suspect asked the court to adjourn until he hires a lawyer to defend him next month.