Dubai: A senior banker has been accused of deceiving a privileged customer and luring him into mortgaging his property against Dh10 million that the former siphoned off for himself and absconded.

The customer, a famous Emirati businessman, was said to have received a call from someone, who claimed to be the accounts manager of the bank’s privileged clients, to discuss business potential with him in October 2016.

Once the caller convinced the businessman to meet him, the senior banker visited the customer at his office, according to records, and talked him into doing business.

The senior banker, who turned out to be a Saudi national, informed the Emirati that the bank was interested to provide him with Dh10 million credit facilities against mortgaging one of his properties in Abu Dhabi.

Following several meetings, the Emirati accepted and provided the Saudi banker with copies of his personal identification papers and private details for the purpose of completing the transaction, said records.

When the bank’s department of combating fraud, corruption and money-laundering examined the transactions and submitted papers, it was discovered that the Saudi senior banker had forged several papers and signatures and provided wrong details before he pocketed the Dh10 million and absconded.

One of the department’s auditors reported the matter to the police and preliminary investigation exposed that several forgeries, financial irregularities and deceptive methods were committed before the Saudi banker had the money deposited in a separate account. Then he reportedly executed a number of dodgy transactions before he pocketed the money for himself in collaboration with a Chinese saleswoman.

The 30-year-old Chinese saleswoman was apprehended by the police who are still searching for the Saudi absconder.

Prosecutors accused the Saudi suspect of misusing the authority granted to him at the government-owned bank, forging official papers and e-transactions, deceiving the Emirati client, luring him into mortgaging a property and embezzling the Dh10 million [that were supposed to have been granted to the Emirati as credit facilities].

The Chinese woman was also accused of aiding and abetting the Saudi suspect in forgery and embezzling public funds.

According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the Saudi suspect committed the alleged crimes between October 2016 and July 2017.

The Chinese woman pleaded not guilty when she appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

“I had nothing to do with the accounts,” she contended before presiding judge Urfan Omar.

The Emirati businessman claimed to prosecutors that the sequence of events started when he responded to a call from a strange number.

“I was in my office when I answered an unknown call. The caller [Saudi suspect] introduced himself and told me that the bank was interested in providing me with credit facilities up to Dh10 million. We met several times and then he made me sign an application to open a bank account … I also gave him copies of the required documents to commence the transaction. Seven months later, one of the bank’s managers visited me and told me that the Saudi had misused my signature to open a bank account and had one of my properties mortgaged. Then, I wrote a letter to the bank in which I informed them that I had not permitted the Saudi suspect to mortgage my property. Then I pursued legal action,” he claimed.

The trial continues.