Dubai: Police in Abu Dhabi arrested a government employee on Monday for taking a monthly stipend allocated to another person, who was dead for the last seven years.
The male suspect, a Gulf national, was also caught with items and trinkets believed to have been used in practicing witchcraft.
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Lt Col Mattar Mu'ded Al Muhairi, head of the Anti-Corruption Department at Abu Dhabi Police, announced that all other people involved in the corruption case were also caught.
The suspect's accomplices were of Asian origin.
“We were first informed about suspicious financial and administrative activities from a federal agency. The government body used to pay a monthly stipend to the suspect on behalf of the resident, who was found to have been dead since 2011,” explained Lt Col Al Muhairi.
The branch of the federal agency was located in the district of Al Ain.
During the investigation, police discovered that the suspect did not disclose the death certificate to the government organistion, and allowed them to continue paying the monthly allowance of the deceased.
The suspect was also found to have replaced the copy of the deceased’s passport with the passport of another, who shared a similar name.
Officials soon held the suspect for questioning, who was in the possession of three dead birds, talismans and credit cards.
Abu Dhabi Police subsequently raided the suspect’s home and found trinkets and books allegedly used in witchcraft, in addition to official documents.
A second female suspect was arrested shortly after for her role in manipulating legal information, and two domestic workers were also held for withdrawing cash from ATM machines following the instructions of their sponsor.
