A former director and partner of a contracting company has been accused of fraudulently obtaining 8.5 million UAE dirham (AED8.5 million - US$2.3 million) from the UAE's official postal service.

The accused man allegedly used forged letters of credit (L/Cs) so that it appeared that the work the contractor was supposed to carry out for Emirates Post Holding Group was guaranteed.

Office buildings

A Jordanian national is currently being tried in absentia in Dubai for his part in a dishonoured AED37.9 million contract for the UAE's postal service.

The contractor was contracted to construct and maintain four offices in February 2008.

Forged L/Cs

Prosecutors say the accused man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, dishonoured the contract by putting up 10 forged L/Cs that purportedly guaranteed the work would be completed.

When the construction company failed to build the offices, officials at Emirates Post sought compensation from the L/Cs that they thought would recompense the postal service for the failed contract.

Absconded

However, when the L/Cs were presented to a local bank in the 2010, the documents were revealed as forgeries.

In October 2009, the former director and partner of the contracting company had already siphoned off AED8.5 million of the payments made by Emirates Post and fled the country.

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