An alleged financial fraud of Rs 63.31 lakh by a 53-year-old Indian woman from Kerala has brought UAE law enforcement agencies to the doorstep of the CBI with a request for local prosecution.
Mety Elsave Joseph, who left UAE through Sharjah International Airport on August 31, 2016, has been accused of illegally getting transferred money to her company’s bank account from the account of a UAE businessman.
After receiving a formal request from the UAE, through the Ministry of External Affairs, the federal agency has registered an FIR against Joseph.
As per the complaint forwarded by the UAE authorities, a resident of that nation, Asad Ahmed Al Rashidi, reported to Beni Yas Police station on July 31, 2016 that Joseph, with the help of another unknown person, used fraudulent means involving information technology tools to take control of financial amount owned by him.
The complaint said that an anonymous person contacted Khalifa Fund via e-mail impersonating the name and capacity of Rashidi and sent an email asking them to transfer an amount of dirhams 279,500 from his account to the account owned by Saida Ready-made Garments Trading Company owned by Joseph.
The Khalifa Fund believed the validity of the message and ordered the bank to transfer that amount to Joseph’s company. The complaint said Joseph managed to deceive and seize the amount.
The CBI FIR said the complaint prima facie disclosed the commission of cheating and conspiracy. Officials said they have already launched investigations into the case.
In a similar case earlier, the CBI had received a complaint from the UAE authorities with regard to the alleged wrongdoing by another fugitive Indian, originally from Kolkata, for his alleged involvement in embezzlement of dirham 320,000 (Rs 72 lakh) at a company in UAE.
As per the complaint received by the CVI, Sanjoy Kumar Datta, 53, a resident of Thakurpukur in Kolkata, conspired while working as an accountant in United Eastern Medical Service in UAE. He allegedly misappropriated the company’s funds by mis-invoicing the company between 2015 and 2017. He was working in the company since 2008.
As per UAE prosecutors, Dutta was responsible for all electricity, water, communication and parking bills of the company and its affiliates. The company said it found during an internal audit that there was a big difference between the invoices it received and the amounts delivered to him by the company to settle the payments, amounting to AED 320,000.
The company said when Datta was confronted by company seniors, he admitted the wrongdoing and promised to return this amount. Datta also gave a signed letter to the company confirming his alleged wrongdoing and promised to return the amount.
The company alleged that since Datta was incharge of settling the invoices of the company, he was taking more than the invoiced amounts and keeping the difference for himself.
An Abu Dhabi Court for First Instance (Misdemeanor Chamber) had in 2019 issued its judgment in absentia by imprisoning Datta, against the charges assigned to him, for one year followed by deportation. Datta’s date of last departure, as per the records of UAE authorities, is November 5, 2017 through Dubai International Airport.