Bank manager who embezzled Dh26m in Dubai sentenced to five years

A bank branch manager has been sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling Dh26 million from a customer's account after he changed the customer's mobile and PO Box numbers, replacing them with his own.
The 31-year-old Emirati abused his position at the bank by altering money transfer forms and cheques for a period of four years. He also faked the signature of the account holder, another Emirati.
Records show that an administrative officer, 29, also from the UAE, was aiding the manager in the scam. Prosecutors said that he opened two accounts at another bank to which they transferred the embezzled cash.
Both men were convicted of 17 counts of forgery, embezzlement, fraud and money laundering, which they denied, in May last year.
The victim, 54, said he didn't sign or fill in any of the transfer forms. He told prosecutors that the manager had been responsible for his account.
"I did not sign any transfer forms from my account to any other account nor did I issue any cheques and most importantly I didn't ask the manager to do so on my behalf," said the victim, adding that he did not know the second defendant nor did he ever meet him.
The embezzlement took place between November 2010 and July 2014.
A Sudanese legal consultant at the bank said the manager issued cheque books in the victim's name and used them to write and cash 46 cheques worth Dh8.5m.
He also made four transfer transactions from the victim's account to the account of his accomplice.
It was not clear how the incident was reported to police.
The manager was sentenced to five years in prison and was fined Dh26m, and ordered to repay the same amount to the victim. The second defendant was sentenced to three years in prison and was fined Dh5.7m.