Salesman sentenced to five years in jail

Dubai: A court has jailed a sales representative for five years for defrauding Dh700,000 from his Saudi business partner and unlawfully taking over his perfumes company by using forged documents.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 47-year-old Yemeni defendant of swindling, defrauding, forgery and using faked documents.

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout, who pronounced yesterday's judgment, said the accused, A.M., will be deported after the completion of his jail term.

Prosecutors accused A.M. of forging the signature of his 38-year-old partner on an application that he submitted to the Department of Economic Development to relocate the company from one area to another.

According to the arraignment sheet, the Public Prosecution also charged A.M. with forging the signature of the complainant, M.A., when he applied for a cheque book and an ATM card.

He was additionally charged with forging the Saudi national's signature on seven cheques and siphoning off Dh700,000 from his partner's account.

Prosecution records said the accused abused his partnership with M.A. in the perfumes trade and exploited his partner's absence when he committed the crimes.

The Saudi testified: "We established the perfumes company in 2005. The company didn't function properly at first and kept it closed without cancelling the trade licence. I deposited in the company's bank account nearly Dh1 million. Later, I issued a written authorisation to the Yemeni to withdraw Dh326,000 for my business in Saudi Arabia. One day the bank informed me that there was no balance in my account when I went to withdraw the remaining Dh700,000."

The Saudi claimed in his statement that the bank informed him that most of his money was withdrawn in cheques

"When I came to Dubai, I got arrested for a bounced cheque worth Dh5,600 which was issued for a Pakistani businessman. I contacted the Pakistani and settled the amount and he was the one who informed me that A.M. issued him the cheque," testified the Saudi.

The primary sentence is still subject to appeal within 15 days.