Official jailed for bribery

Hamza M. Sengendo

An RTA supervisor who stashed Dhs2,000 worth of bribe inside his shoe was sentenced to two years behind bars on Sunday.

The Comorian man, MA, 54, was additionally fired from his job and slapped with a Dhs2,000 fine. He will be deported after serving the jail term, the Dubai Criminal Court ruled.

MA had caught a Pakistani cabbie, JA, 29, for illicitly soliciting passengers at the parking lots of the Deira City Centre Metro station at around 4.30pm on Nov. 28 last year. JA had been tasked with transporting hotel guests.

According to JA, hotel passengers were scarce. He therefore drove his employer’s limousine to the Metro station in wait for any possible customer. MA showed up and threatened to fine him over illegally soliciting passengers.

“I tried to convince him that I hadn’t transported any passenger but he refused. He then allowed me to transport one of the passengers to Sabkha area after seizing my car ownership certificate.

“We later met near the Fountain Roundabout and he told me that I would have to pay a Dhs4,000 fine for soliciting passengers, which would increase to Dhs5,000 if I did not pay the same within five days.”

“When I entreated him not to register the fine, he revealed that in case I gave him a Dhs2,000 bribe, he would cancel it. He set 7pm as the deadline for handing over the bribe.”

JA alerted his supervisor and they both complained to Al Muraqqabat police. CID officers photocopied JA’s Dhs2,000 and organised a trap to arrest MA. JA met MA, paid him Dhs2,000 and MA returned the ownership certificate.

During the arrest, MA denied having received any money from JA. Policemen took him to the police station from where a corporal frisked him and discovered that he had stashed it in his shoe.