Mashreq slams customer over ‘fraudulent’ ATM claim

Dubai: A leading UAE bank has slammed a customer for claiming that he lost Dh9,000 in an ATM transaction even though video footage showed he received the money.

A senior Mashreq Bank executive said Parvez Sajjad Abdul Rahim, 28, an Indian sales executive, lied when he went public through XPRESS that an ATM withdrawal he made at around 5pm on February 3 from a Mashreq Bank ATM in Al Quoz Mall did not materialise. Farhad Irani, Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Banking Group, Mashreq, said: “This is a serious matter. The bank reserves its right to take appropriate action against any damages caused by this individual in this instance.”

XPRESS carried a story on April 11 in which Rahim claimed Mashreq declined his request for a refund and denied a subsequent request to let him review the CCTV footage from the machine.

On Wednesday, a week after XPRESS ran Rahim’s story, the bank produced a written statement from Rahim admitting “the transaction was successful” after letting him view the footage.

“It was just a doubt and it’s cleared by (the) bank,” Rahim wrote in a statement, which he signed as “Parvez”. He also admitted he had lost the withdrawal slip of the transaction in question.

Irani said fraudulent claims happen all over the world.

“We are an ethical and responsible institution, with internal controls and audits in place to make sure every fils is accounted for. We have evidence specific to this case, but our security policy prevents us from divulging everything.”

On Wednesday, Rahim confirmed to XPRESS he did see the footage with the February 3 date and time stamps and wrote the statement.

“The video showed me counting some bills after making a withdrawal at that time. But I’m still not fully convinced.”

Irani dismissed Rahim as an “outlier with mischievous intent who misuses the system”.

“This individual’s baseless claims are nothing short of egregious, unethical and immoral. We condemn such acts from individuals who use public platforms that do good to society – to harm an organisation’s image with no proper evidence.

“An incident like this one creates public misgivings about how a misguided individual, with absolutely no evidence, can abuse their (media) credibility to cause immeasurable reputational damage to ordinary businesses and institutions.”