DUBAI: A cargo clearance agent who bribed a customs officer to condone the importation of duplicate products has been sentenced to six months behinds bars to be followed by deportation.
The Chinese man, KH, 27, presented Dhs4,000 to Emirati inspector NB, 28, to release a shipment containing duplicate goods on Feb.14, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.
The shipment contained French and Italian brands through documents showed it was imported from China, said a senior customs officer at the Jebel Ali Port. He advised NB to make a follow-up.
In records, at around 6pm on Feb.12, KH arrived to collect the shipment his employer’s client ordered from China. It contained shaving machines and hair dryers.
When NB told KH he was going to refer the container to the intellectual property section to examine the brands, he requested him to release it. NB turned down the request.
“I can pay you,” NB quoted KH urging. “I asked him how much he could pay. He told me Dhs4,000. My senior officer advised me to lure him into a trap. I notified the CID.
Under police directives, “I convinced him I had processed the clearance documents and stamped them. We set an appointment to meet at the parking lot of a shopping centre in Mirdif.
“The police equipped me with an audio recorder. At around 4pm on Feb.14, he showed up, entered my car and handed me Dhs4,000. I gave him the documents then made a signal to the CID personnel.”
During interrogations at the Rashidiya Police Station, KH reportedly confessed to the offence.
The court ordered the confiscation of the mobile phone he was using to contact NB.
Records showed that on March 29, the shipping company where KH worked presented a letter in which it apologised for having imported electronic devices with duplicate trademarks.
