Bribes-for-licences scheme earns jail time for five

DUBAI // Five employees of Al Ahli Driving Institute will spend six months in prison each for seeking and taking bribes from students, a court ruled this morning.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted a sixth man, NS, 34.

Prosecutors said the five Indian men, AA and AK, both 24; MA, 25; SK, 27; and MM, 34, all clerks at the institute, took bribes totaling Dh34,000 from students at the institute. The court ordered the men to repay that amount.

According to records, the five took bribes to skip viewing original passport copies of students, assigning students to certain examiners, forging applications and using these forged documents by sending them to the Roads and Transports Authority to issue licences to students.

AA, AK, MA, MM, and SK were also accused of forging stamps of private companies on letters of no objection from students employers that should be provided to the school to initiate the driving classes, records said. They all denied the charges.

Records said that a man identified as RS reported the incident to police after he failed tests at Al Ahli from 2008 to August 2009. He told prosecutors that in 2009, SK approached him and asked for a Dh8,000 bribe to help him pass.

He said he paid the money but SK did not help him, records show.

The men will be deported after serving their prison terms.

salamir@thenational.ae