Sales representative sentenced in absentia

Dubai: A sales representative faces three years in jail after a court convicted him yesterday of stealing PlayStation games and other electronics worth Dh1.1 million from Jumbo Electronics.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced in absentia the 33-year-old Indian sales representative [who is at large] to three years in jail.

Delivering the judgement, Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad said imprisonment would be followed by deportation. Prosecutors accused 33-year-old W.J. of stealing PlayStation games, televisions and electronic equipment from his former employer, Jumbo Electronics.

Prosecutors said W.J. forged sale orders on behalf of Virgin Megastore and released the purchases from Jumbo's stores and warehouses, and stole them.

An Emirati deputy manager testified: "The suspect worked as a sales representative. He used to sell electronics and electrical appliances to customers and issue receipts and permission to release the purchases from Jumbo warehouses. We discovered that he issued bogus receipts and permission to release a number of items before collaborating with a driver and taking the items for himself."

Bogus orders

The deputy manager said after checking with Virgin Megastore's representatives, the latter denied purchasing any electronic equipment from Jumbo.

An accountant at Virgin Megastore alleged to prosecutors: "We checked our accounts and discovered that most of the purchase orders were bogus. We did not order any purchases from Jumbo."

By law, a suspect who is sentenced in absentia is entitled to a retrial after he surrenders to the Public Prosecution's Criminal Rulings Execution Section to carry out the verdict.