DUBAI: An Indian expatriate in the UAE has been jailed for six months after he was found guilty of forging his employer's signature 47 times over two years, transferring 4,47,000 Dirham of office funds into his personal account, according to a media report.
The accused, identified as HYP, 29, in the news report by Gulf News, has also been ordered to pay 471,202 Dirham in penalties. HYP is a native of Gujarat. He will be deported after his jail term ends.
Speaking to Gulf News, HYP's employer Kishanchad Bhatia, 72, said the accused was working at his Dubai-based firm, Transcontinental Indenting, for the last eight years as a senior administrator.
HYP had access to the company's cheque books.
Bhatia, who moved from India to the UAE nearly fifty years ago, said in October this year he found a cheque book in HYP's office drawer which had no leaves but several blank counterfoils.
This led to the suspicion that HYP was swindling office funds.
"Subsequent investigations showed that all the missing cheques had been drawn in favour of HYP. We confronted him with the evidence and reported the matter to Dubai Police," Bhatia was quoted in the Gulf News report.
"Police acted swiftly on my complaint and arrested HYP on October 18. Later, he was referred to Public Prosecution where he was charged with fraud. On December 16, a Dubai criminal court announced the guilty verdict," Bhatia said.