Dubai: A ticket reservation employee at a local airline office in Dubai has been accused of embezzling Dh162,155 from customers after charging them higher prices for their tickets and pocketing the difference, the Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Syrian accused had allegedly scammed customers into paying between Dh60 and Dh18,000 extra on their tickets before altering 36 official purchase receipts.
The defendant admitted to embezzling the money for his gain since September 2018. He was caught in September 2019.
He said he committed the scam due to his poor financial situation.
The defendant was working for the airline since 2016.
“We discovered that he was selling the tickets at high prices and would reduce the amount in the system. He used to pocket the difference for his benefit,” the 39-year-old Lebanese official in the airline company said in records.
The accused used to change ticket dates and classes to scam the airline’s customers.
“For example, he would sell a Dh5,000 ticket for Dh7,000, then pocket the difference. Sometimes he used to reduce the ticket’s tax for his benefit or promote the ticket from economy to business without making a mention of that in the system,” the official added.
The airline reported the incident to Dubai Police who arrested the defendant.
During police questioning, the defendant admitted to embezzling the money by increasing the price of the tickets or upgrading ticket classes.
He claimed that he was ready to reach a settlement with the airline.
However, Dubai Public Prosecution charged the Syrian defendant with embezzlement and forgery.
He admitted to all the charges in courtroom.
The next hearing is on March 15.
