28 jailed for Dh635-million bank swindle in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court on Wednesday found 28 defendants guilty of the embezzlement of Dh635 million from an Abu Dhabi bank and awarded them jail terms ranging from one year to 15 years.

They were convicted of carrying out fraudulent activities and misappropriating the huge amount on different occasions from the bank.

The court ordered the convicts to pay back Dh9 million, which the bank has not been able to recover yet.

Apart from the money they illegally grabbed from the bank, the presiding judge also ordered to them to pay another Dh635 million as a penalty.

A total of 33 people belonging to different nationalities including American, Russian, Indian, Canadian and Pakistani, were arrested last year and charged in the case.

The accused included employees of the bank who transferred amounts from dormant customer accounts to bogus accounts before they were withdrawn.

The judge also ordered them to pay a temporary civil compensation of Dh21,000 to the bank, in addition to all court fees.

The court sentenced each of the eight main defendants to 15 years in prison and 10 others were awarded 10-year jail terms.

The court convicted nine others, who transferred the money to their own accounts, and sentenced each of them to seven years in prison, while the last convict in the case was jailed for a year.

The court ordered them to be deported from the country after serving the jail terms and paying financial penalties.

Five acquitted

The court acquitted the remaining five defendants after it was proved through testimonies and documents that they had not participated in the fraudulant activities.

The court revealed that these five persons received money transfers into their accounts but they informed the entities concerned about them and immediately transferred the amounts back to the bank concerned.