A tax office employee embezzled nearly Dh70,000 of VAT refunds due to be returned to tourists, a court heard.
The worker, 34 took advantage of his position overseeing refund applications to pocket the cash himself.
Prosecutors said he filled in his own credit card details when completing applications filed by travellers using the tax rebate company, based at Dubai International Airport.
The Filipino carried out the spate of crimes between January and March of this year.
The incident came to light on April 1, when the company director noticed the same credit card number had been used on several applications.
He said that one traveller sent a letter to the company complaining that he never received his refund.
“When we investigated, the system showed that the accused used two credit cards several times for different applications,” he said.
As of November 18 of last year, tourists leaving international airports can claim VAT refunds on purchases made in the UAE.
The man admitted theft and forgery charges when he appeared at court.
He will be sentenced on June 24.
