Dubai: A businessman has been cleared of paying Dh541,000 in bribes to the director of a bank’s stock exchange section to purchase Dh70 million worth of shares that were in low demand.
The 37-year-old Pakistani director was reported to have taken bribes totalling Dh541,000 from a 36-year-old compatriot businessman to buy the undesirable shares from six different companies.
A legal adviser at the bank found out that the director had taken money to purchase the shares that were being traded in the Pakistani market but were not in high demand over different periods.
On Thursday, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the director of abusing his job position at the bank and taking bribes to purchase shares and acquitted the businessman of paying a bribe.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, presiding judge Urfan Omar acquitted the two men and dismissed the civil lawsuit that the bank had lodged against them.
Records said the incident allegedly happened between July 2015 and June 2016.
The duo pleaded not guilty in court.
The bank’s legal adviser testified to prosecutors that the transactions were detected following an internal auditing at the bank.
“We discovered that the suspect (bank director) had abused his authority to trade in the undesired stocks in the market against a bribe that he took from the (other) suspect. The suspect used to collect the bribe money and deposit it in his personal bank account … sometimes, the businessman used to transfer the money to his account. The director signed a written confession about the wrongdoings that he had done,” claimed the legal adviser.
The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
