Dubai: A three-day transit visa holder has been stuck in the UAE for 73 days because of investigations over a fake $100-note he was carrying.
Mohammad Omar Shaikh said the “delay” has cost him his job and pushed back surgeries for his father and himself.
Shaikh, 36, from Pakistan was travelling from Madagascar to Pakistan via Dubai in late September with his wife and four-year-old son. His ordeal started when one of the five $100-notes he was exchanging at a money exchange outlet during a family shopping trip to Ajman was suspected to be fake by the exchange staff. Police were called in and his passport was withheld as investigators determined the authenticity of the note.
In mid-November, he was told that a forensics report had confirmed that the note was fake and the case was referred to an Ajman court.
Shaikh, who was a quality control manager at a textiles company in Madagascar, said he was told the case would be sent to an Abu Dhabi security court.
A senior police official at Ajman Police told Gulf News that they had received the case at Al Nuaimiyah police station. They questioned Shaikh, took his statements, and sent his currency notes to the forensics lab for tests.
A forensics report confirmed one of the notes was fake and, on that basis, the case was referred to public prosecution. An official said Shaikh was granted bail.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Ajman public prosecution confirmed to Gulf News that the case was transferred to them from police and they have already questioned him. The case will go to State Security Court in a few days as it is the main court handling such cases.
Shaikh told Gulf News that the note was part of his salary taken in cash at an African national bank in Antsirabe, Madagascar’s third biggest city. “How was I supposed to know one of the notes is fake? I don’t handle dollars every day and I’m not a forensics expert. This can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time,” he said.
Shaikh added that background checks had proved he has no criminal history. “I had a decent job and was supporting my family. Would I risk it all over $100? My company wouldn’t wait so long for me to get back to work. I was supposed to have surgery done for my father and myself in Pakistan by now.”
Shaikh said he is raking up visa overstay fines and had to borrow money to pay Dh1,800 overstay fines for his family when he sent them home in early October. He added that he also had to borrow Dh2,000 for the “guarantee money” related to his case.
Shaikh had to move out of the Dubai hotel that was paid for by his company for what was meant to be a short stopover in the UAE – he is now sharing “bed space” in Ajman.
Shaikh said he made “several rounds” of the Pakistani consulate in Dubai “but didn’t get any concrete help.”
“I met with welfare officials at the consulate but, despite their initial assurances, in the end no one came forward to help me in any way. I was finally told, ‘this is the law and it can take time. You’re going to have to deal with it.’ So I gave up going there.”
“I’ve piled up Dh6,000-Dh7,000 in loans from friends. I don’t have money for proper meals, let alone an air ticket to Pakistan. I’ve got to get back soon so I can get a new job, support my family again, and pay for treatment for my father and myself,” Shaikh said.
“I only have tea and a piece of bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day so I can save some money.”
He added that he needs surgery for a sinus problem while his father has a “lower abdomen issue” that “needs attention as soon as possible”.
Shaikh added: “I’ve got no idea what is the next step in the process, I haven’t been told anything except that the case will be handled by the court Abu Dhabi. But I have no idea when all this will be resolved. How is someone in my situation supposed to survive till then?
“I’m deeply distressed, but more for my family than myself. My mother has been hospitalised, they are all worried sick over there for me.”
Shaikh appealed to the authorities to expedite his case because he had not committed any crime.
