Three out of seven men who were cleared of offering a Dh600,000 bribe to a customs inspector in return for the release of six containers of banned endangered red sandalwood seized at Jebel Ali Port have had their acquittal overturned.
On August 27 last year, Dubai Criminal Court cleared the seven men on a charge of offering a bribe to a public employee; however, prosecutors then appealed against the acquittal.
An unemployed Emirati, 26, who was paid Dh100,000 to help offer the bribe to the customs inspector, has now been sentenced to three months in jail, while a Yemeni man, 48, and an Egyptian, 27, were sentenced to three months in jail each to be followed by deportation.
Four other men, a Syrian manager, 29, an Emirati police lieutenant, 28, a Yemeni policeman, 50, and an Indian cook, 37, were all cleared by the appeals court.
In October 2015, the inspector, 25, reported that he was contacted by the unemployed Emirati and offered Dh100,000 for each container that he released.
All the defendants denied charges in both criminal and appeal courts.
