DUBAI: A customs employee allegedly took Dh3,000 bribe from a British trader for allowing to import perfume from Jebel Ali Port without paying customs fee.
MS, 27, Emirati, was assisted by his colleague and compatriot AM, 22, who was also accused of criminal complicity. The investor SB, 45, was accused of forging documents.
Section head Marwan Ali noticed during an inspection that MS went into a company’s office and left after 15 minutes holding papers in his hands. After sometime, the same employee went into the same company’s office and handed over the papers against which cargo was imported including a car.
“The imported car left followed by the employee’s car. I suspected that something is fishy and followed the cars. After completing clearance formalities at the gate, the imported car got out of the port. I stopped the car to check the clearance papers of the cargo. I found that there were 7 cartons that contained branded perfumes different from those mentioned in the clearance papers. On confronting the investor, he admitted paying Dh3,000 bribe to MS the night before for allowing the import of perfumes without paying the customs duty,” Marwan told investigators.
The company’s letter head stated that the value of the perfumes was Dh32,000 and the brand was different from what was mentioned in import documents; the perfumes’ actual value was estimated at over Dh215,000 and customs duty was Dh10,769.
MS admitted to the crime but AM denied knowing anything about the bribe and told investigators that he was asked by MS to stamp the papers telling him that the cargo belonged to his uncle.
“There was a missing paper and I informed MS about that before stamping them. He told me that papers are complete… Being colleagues, I stamped the papers without knowing anything about the bribe,” AM told investigators.
The prosecution asked the court to implement stiff penalty against the accused. The court will reconvene on November 20.
