Dubai Court Orders Ex-Audit Chief to Repay Dh8.6M Over SIM Card Fraud

A Dubai civil court has ordered a former internal audit director at a government-owned company to repay more than Dh8.6 million after holding him liable for embezzling public funds, causing deliberate financial harm to his employer and laundering illicit proceeds through overseas financial channels.

 

The Dubai Court of First Instance ruled that the defendant must pay Dh8,647,061.34, along with 5 per cent legal interest calculated from the date the judgment becomes final until full settlement. He was also ordered to cover court fees, expenses and legal costs.

 

Court records show the defendant served as Director of the Internal Audit Department from 2006 until his termination in December 2024. His role allowed him to request mobile SIM cards from the finance department for testing the company’s electronic systems.

 

Investigations revealed that about 607 prepaid SIM cards were issued under his authority, each loaded with balances of up to Dh950. These were used for online purchases through digital platforms including Google Play and Apple Store. The cards could also be recharged without direct supervisory approval — a control gap the court said was later exploited.

 

The misconduct surfaced in September 2024 after the company’s revenue audit and security incident response teams detected repeated high-value digital transactions linked to accounts managed by the internal audit department. An internal probe found that more than 600 SIM cards had been systematically used to carry out thousands of electronic purchase transactions over several years.

 

Technical and financial investigations by Dubai Police confirmed that nearly 25,000 online transactions worth more than Dh8.6 million were executed through two mobile applications operated and controlled by the defendant.

 

One application was connected to a private company registered overseas and owned by him. Authorities found that proceeds from the transactions were first deposited into company accounts before being transferred to the defendant’s personal UAE bank account and later remitted abroad to accounts in his name, as well as those of his spouse and associates.

 

During questioning before Public Prosecution, the defendant admitted exploiting transaction limits of about Dh300 per purchase, enabling him to conduct a high volume of transactions while avoiding immediate detection. Expert reports confirmed that prepaid balances from company-issued SIM cards were used to execute 24,988 transactions between 2016 and October 2024, identifying him as the ultimate beneficiary.

 

Following his criminal conviction before the Dubai Criminal Court, the civil court independently reviewed police findings, financial records and expert evidence, concluding that his actions directly caused financial losses and deprived the company of the lawful use and investment of its funds.

 

The court ordered repayment of the misappropriated amount, statutory interest and litigation costs, bringing the total financial liability to more than Dh8.6 million.

 

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