Dubai: Two men have been accused of using a lost Emirates ID card to issue a credit card which they used to purchase 14 phones worth around Dh31,000 from Axiom, a phone retailer in the UAE.

The duo, a Tunisian manager, M.Z., and an Egyptian salesman, A.F., were said to have found the lost Emirates ID card that belonged to a British man before they used it to process a credit card. Then they made a number of purchases from an Axiom store.

Prosecutors charged the duo with using an official document [Emirates ID] that belonged to someone else to issue a credit card. They were also accused of deceiving Axiom staff when they bought the 14 phones and forged the signatures on the purchase receipts.

M.Z. pleaded not guilty and refuted his accusations when he appeared before the Dubai Court of first Instance on Monday.

“I did not find the ID card or use it. I did not forge any signature or use any credit card…,” contended M.Z. when he defended himself before presiding judge Ali Attiyah Sa’ad.

A.F. did not show up in courtroom three.

The British man testified that he lost his Emirates ID card in April 2010 and had a replacement issued shortly after that.

“The Emirates ID Authority informed me that there was no need to report to the police that I had lost my card,” said the man.

Meanwhile, his wife, according to records, claimed that they received an SMS from the bank informing them that their credit card had been used at Dubai Marina Mall. “The last time we used our credit card was in August 2012 at Mirdif City Centre. We did not make any purchases at Marina Mall. We realised that someone had been using our credit card in an illegal manner… immediately we notified the bank and asked them to freeze our cards. We were informed by the bank staff that the purchases were made at Axiom and Areej,” claimed the wife.

The British couple informed the police immediately after that.

An Indian shop supervisor testified that M.Z. came to his shop in Naif and sold him brand new phones purchased from Axiom.

“The suspect presented a receipt confirming that he had bought a Blackberry from Axiom. I purchased a Blackberry Phone and an iPhone 4s from him on August 25, 2012. He came again in September and sold me two phones. I only checked one receipt and checked its serial number. When I asked M.Z. why he was selling the phones, he told me he needed money. I also took a photocopy of his Emirates ID,” claimed the supervisor.

An Emirati policeman testified that surveillance cameras revealed that A.F. worked at the Axiom branch.

“He was the one shown selling the phones to M.Z. After his arrest, the Egyptian denied any involvement in the case. Later he confessed that he was aware that the credit card was processed based on an Emirates ID that belonged to somebody else. Meanwhile the Tunisian alleged that a Russian person gave him the ID,” claimed the policeman.

Presiding judge Sa’ad adjourned the case until A.F. is legally notified about the next hearing on October 7.