UAE national, wife get 66 years in jail for financial fraud

A UAE national, his wife and 16 others have been sentenced to 66 years in jail and ordered to pay AED 52 million in fines and restitution by the Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation.

They were charged for forgery, bribery and other financial fraud.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation handed the UAE national and his wife 66 years in jail and fined them AED 39 million.

It also sentenced the other defendants to jail terms ranging between three and 15 years and fined a total of AED 13 million.

The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution had referred the defendants to the court after their investigations revealed that they had violated food safety rules and stored goods, past their expiry dates, at private warehouses, and changed the sell-by-date before putting them back on sale. They even advertised them, posing a threat to public health and safety.

Defendants were also caught accepting bribes under the pretext of being able to influence public bodies to overlook the rulebook to install water pipes illegally to benefit a local farm, and manipulating the electrical board to power their six properties while disrupting the services of others.

The defendants also illegally claimed the public land - marked for public transport - that separated two farms to merge into one property - by forging official documents.

UAE National, Wife and 16 Others Sentenced to 66 Years' Imprisonment, Fines and Restitution of 52 Million On Charges of Abuse of Public Funds, Forgery, Bribery, Illicit Gain, Commercial Fraud and Misappropriation pic.twitter.com/H0yTbXauGn

— دائرة القضاء-أبوظبي (@ADJD_Official) January 13, 2024