A former director and partner in a contracting company operating in the UAE has been sentenced, in absentia, to three years in jail for defrauding a public company and dishonouring an agreement with it.

The 46 year-old Jordanian, who cannot be named for legal reasons, used letters of credit (L/Cs) in his crimes against Emirates Post Holding Group.

Contractual agreement

The Jordanian agreed a contact in February 2008 with Emirates Post to build and maintain four post offices.

He put up 10 L/Cs, ostensibly to guarantee that the work agreed in the contract would be completed.

Fine

The contractor received 8.5 million UAE dirham (AED8.5 million) from Emirates Post, even though the worked was not completed.

The man found guilty, in addition to his jail sentence, has also been fined AED8.5 million for his offences.

L/C fraud

Emirates Post only discovered the fraud when it presented the L/Cs to local banks, which declared the documents were fakes.

The contractor had completed 90 per cent of the construction work on the four post offices before he fled the country in November 2009.

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