Dubai

A former inspector at the Ministry of Labour lost his appeal and will be jailed for one year for demanding Dh50,000 as bribe from the owner of a massage parlour.

The Emirati inspector had called up a Chinese woman, who owns the parlour, and asked her to pay him money against which he promised not to have her spa examined by ministry inspectors in December.

In November, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the inspector of requesting the bribe and fined him Dh50,000. Meanwhile an Indian driver was cleared of conspiring with the Emirati in collecting the bribe money from the Chinese woman.

The defendant appealed his primary judgement [one year in jail and Dh50,000] before the Appeal Court and sought to have his punishment overturned.

Prosecutors also appealed the primary ruling and sought to have the punishment stiffened.

Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm upheld the primary ruling and said the accused will pay a fine of Dh50,000 and spend a year in jail.

Law enforcement officers apprehended the two men during a sting operation after the spa owner reported the matter to the police. The duo pleaded not guilty.

The Emirati defendant abused his work as a ministry inspector and promised the spa owner that her parlour would not be inspected if she paid him Dh50,000.

The Indian suspect told the court he had no clue or information about the bribe.

The Chinese woman said the incident happened after the Emirati inspected her spa in Al Nahda and fined her Dh80,000 for flouting labour laws.

“That was the first time I met him. In December, someone called me and warned me that labour inspectors would visit the spa and check it … the caller then offered to help me. He promised that if I paid him Dh60,000 he would bar all inspectors from examining my parlour. The caller turned out to be the convict. When I told him I cannot afford the amount, he reduced it to Dh50,000. I asked him to call me the next day because I was outside Dubai and did not have the amount. The next day, he urged me to pay him fast. When I suggested sending him the money with my husband, he refused because my husband is Emirati. I asked for more time and called the police,” she testified.

A police lieutenant said the Chinese woman cooperated with the police who apprehended the duo in a sting operation.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 25 days.