Businessman jailed for offering bribe to Dubai Customs inspector

A businessman accused of using five middle men to bribe a Dubai Customs inspector has been jailed, though the middle men were acquitted at Dubai Criminal Court.

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DUBAI // A businessman accused of using five middle men to bribe a Dubai Customs inspector has been jailed, though the middle men were acquitted at Dubai Criminal Court.

Indian F P, 31, was found guilty of offering a bribe to the official in return for allowing two shipments, supposedly containing banned items, to pass inspection. Sri Lankan M K, 40, and Indians M S, 46, A A, 47, R M, 36, and 39-year-old A S were all found not guilty.

Prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court last November that M K first offered a Dh28,000 bribe to a public employee in return for him violating the rules and regulations of his position and allowing the shipments to pass through Jebel Ali Port.

The other defendants, aside from F P, were charged with working as middle men between the Sri Lankan and the Emirati customs inspector as they tried to convince him to accept the bribe.

They all denied the charge in court.

Ironically, the two shipments that the inspector refused the bribe for passed the inspection anyway and were not found to be containing any banned items, records show.

The inspector, K S, 25, said that at the end of Ramadan last year defendant F P came to his office to finalise some papers. “They were missing some documents so I asked him to get the documents and come back,” said the Emirati.

“When he returned he started chatting with me and asked for my number, which I gave to him.”

The inspector told of how F P later called him and told him that he wanted help to get a container arriving from Kuwait carrying diesel to pass inspection. The Emirati said he was offered Dh5,000 for this assistance but he played along and asked for more money.

Later he received a call from F P as well as the other Indian defendants asking him to help them bring two containers, offering Dh10,000 for each for his help.

Playing along, the inspector said he wanted more money and the amount was increased to Dh14,000 per container.

He then told police, who arrested F P in a sting operation when he met the inspector and handed him an up-front payment.

During investigations, F P told prosecutors about the other defendants and their involvement in the case, so police arrested them all too.

F P was sentenced to three months in jail to be followed by deportation while the rest of the defendants were acquitted.

salamir@thenational.ae