An Etisalat employee has been jailed for his part in the theft of more than Dh2 million from his company.
The Indian man, 45, was involved in the theft of more than 900 mobile phones and hundreds of sim cards which he then sold and pocketed the profit between 2013 and 2014.
A second man — a former sales manager for Etisalat — was also accused in the scam but was cleared of all charges by Dubai Criminal Court on Monday.
Prosecutors said that the sales manager filled in requests with fake applicants’ names and contact numbers, signed on their behalf, then processed the applications before saving them on Etisalat’s e-system.
He then issued the phones and cards and handed them to the 45-year-old employee who sold them and both split the profit.
The pair were faced with charges of abusing their positions, illegally obtaining Dh2.1m, forgery and use of forged documents. The incident was first discovered in 2015.
Internal investigations by Etisalat’s audit section revealed numerous altered applications.
“We found forgeries in the applications then called the applicants’ contact numbers only to find out that they haven’t applied for any services,” said an Emirati auditor.
Dubai Criminal Court acquitted the sales manager but convicted his fellow accused sentencing him six months in jail. He was fined Dh2.1m and ordered to repay the same amount to his company.