By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter (Gulf News) Published: August 10, 2008, 23:49
Ras Al Khaimah: Three Indians who were duped by a recruitment agent in India and arrived at the RAK Indian Association in a desperate state have been provided with air tickets home.
It emerged the trio was part of a group of ten duped by an agent who collected 1 million Indian rupees (Dh87,428) from the victims, who had all been promised well-paid jobs in the UAE.
The victims from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu arrived in the UAE after they each paid the agent 100,000 Indian rupees. However, the agent only provided them with visit visas and disappeared upon their arrival in the UAE.
Shocked
The workers had been promised food and shelter until they were fully settled in their new positions, but were shocked after realising they had been tricked. A.M.M. Noorudheen, general secretary of the Ras Al Khaimah Indian Association, said three out of the ten victims approached the association in a miserable condition, and the association provided them with food, money and shelter.
"With the help of another Indian charity, the association arranged for the air tickets of the three victims who were sent back to their homeland," he said. He added that the families of the victims had reported the case of the Indian agent to the Indian law enforcement authorities, and the families reported that the authorities had already put the agent behind bars. "We are still waiting for the seven other victims to show up at the association for help but we do not know their whereabouts, they must be truly suffering," he said.
"We are ready to handle the cases of the remaining victims and send them back home once they appear," he added. Noorudheen said Indian embassies, consulates, and Indian associations have allocated budgets to educate people about the dangers of untrustworthy recruitment agents who are on the rise in India but "it seems that a lack of public awareness still prevails."
Association: 'Ready to investigate'
The Ras Al Khaimah Indian Association called on Indians interested in working in the UAE to contact their Consulate General in Dubai or Indian associations to inquire about their recruitment agents before paying a penny for their journey to the UAE for work which may not even exist. "We are ready to investigate and report back to our fellow Indians as soon as possible to avoid them falling victim to these agents," he said. "We do not want Indians to land in trouble, especially when they are away from their homeland," Noorudheen added. The Indian Association here has suggested to the Indian and UAE authorities that the signing of official labour contracts be authorised in India.
"Many recruitment agencies give oral contracts and promises to Indians to work in the UAE for Dh1,200 to Dh1,500 but those labourers are usually shocked to find that their salaries do not exceed Dh700 to Dh800 and that they are forced to take the job for at least a three-year term.
Showing posts with label Cheating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheating. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Dubai police arrest man for selling bogus company
By Maysam Ali, Staff Reporter (Gulf News)
Published: August 03, 2008, 23:35
Dubai: Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested an Arab national living in Dubai, identified as A.A., for selling a European investor a bogus company for $30,000 (Dh110,100). The European investor was duped into paying $30,000 for a trade licence to open a company and for a residence visa stating his position as the managing partner of that company.
He paid the requested amount but did not receive anything in return and was unable to contact A.A. afterwards. The culprit was arrested in Karama and confessed his role in the scam when questioned. He was transferred to the public prosecution for further investigation.CID warned people against falling victim to such scams.
Published: August 03, 2008, 23:35
Dubai: Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested an Arab national living in Dubai, identified as A.A., for selling a European investor a bogus company for $30,000 (Dh110,100). The European investor was duped into paying $30,000 for a trade licence to open a company and for a residence visa stating his position as the managing partner of that company.
He paid the requested amount but did not receive anything in return and was unable to contact A.A. afterwards. The culprit was arrested in Karama and confessed his role in the scam when questioned. He was transferred to the public prosecution for further investigation.CID warned people against falling victim to such scams.
Employees fear arrest after taking out loans for Sharjah Company
By Anjana Sankar, Senior Reporter (Gulf News)
Published: August 03, 2008, 23:35
Dubai: Employees of a Sharjah-based company have accused their employer of trapping them in a financial scam by acquiring bank loans to the tune of millions in their names by fraudulent means. Aggrieved employees, who now face arrest for dud cheques and failed loan payments, said their company, “City Emperor General Trading LLC”, that has over half a dozen establishments under its umbrella, including the “Al Qathara Supermarket and department stores in Abu Dhabi”, where they were working, opened accounts in their names and made salary transfers to several banks simultaneously to take out huge loans.
Gulf News made several attempts to contact the owner of the company, but he refused to comment.
"We were requested by the company's managing director to take personal loans to salvage the company from a financial crisis, and the company assured us it would be solely responsible for the monthly payments," said Mohammad Iqbal Saidu Mohammad, accounting manager with the firm.
Threatened
He added those employees who did not agree were threatened by the management, and many others were made to sign documents, which were used by the company to open accounts and apply for loans without their knowledge. Mohammad Iqbal claims the company has taken loans in his name up to a total amount of over AED 700000, and now the company is not paying the instalments, he has cases filed against him by banks.
According to him, although his salary was AED 7500, the company gave a false salary certificate of AED 12500 to banks, and transferred the amount for five months in order to make him eligible for loans. Another employee, Rajesh, has loans of AED 73000 from the National Bank of Dubai, AED 78000 from United Arab Bank Dubai and AED 45000 on credit from HSBC Dubai.
"When they asked me to take a loan for the company, I thought it would be just one loan, and that too for a small amount since my salary is only Dh2,000. It was only when I started getting calls from several banks, I realised the company had shown my salary as AED 10000, and cheated me by making me sign some bank documents," said Rajesh. Rajesh also said he was in jail for two weeks and the company did nothing to bail him out.
Substantiating their claims were copies of letters written by the company to banks requesting them time to clear the dues. As shown to Gulf News, the letters read: "As instructed by the employer, some of our employees voluntarily came forward to help this supermarket venture to improve its unfavourable financial position by providing funds which they took as personal loans and through their credit cards from your bank, and we utilised these funds to ease our fund crunch to a great extent."
"In view of the above circumstances, we take full responsibility to settle all the dues of our employees, and are willing to arrive at a mutual settlement with you to clear them in monthly instalments." The employees also said in many cases, salary transfers and cash withdrawals and other transactions were made from their accounts even in the absence of the account holders, some of whom were out of the UAE. According to the employees, three of their colleagues have already been arrested, now the company has reported their names to the labour department as absconders.
"We have reported the matter to the Central Bank, and all other respective banks, and they are investigating the issue. Complaints have also been lodged with the Indian embassy and Amnesty International.
"We live in constant fear of being arrested for no fault of ours. The company is financially capable of clearing the debts and they have the moral responsibility to get us out of this mess," Rajesh said.
Legal expert: Workers 'responsible'
Ignorance of facts is pardonable. But ignorance of the law is never pardonable, said a legal expert implying that the employees are ultimately responsible for financial liabilities in their names. "In my opinion, the criminal liability of dud cheques remain with the employees and no court will entertain any arguments otherwise."
"We can look at the issue in two different ways. From the criminal perspective, the criminal liability lies with the employees because no matter how they landed in the situation, they signed the cheques in good faith and convinced the banks they were capable of repaying the loans."
However, from a civil point of view, if the employees can produce documents acceptable to the court to substantiate that the company had taken responsibility for payment of dues, the banks can hold the employer also liable for the payments.
According to her, the only substantial grounds for winning the case is if the employees can prove by documentary evidence and witnesses that they were misrepresented and the company had forced them into signing documents. "In that case, they can file a case of fraud against the company. But unfortunately they will not win if they do not have strong witnesses and documentary evidence," said the expert.
Published: August 03, 2008, 23:35
Dubai: Employees of a Sharjah-based company have accused their employer of trapping them in a financial scam by acquiring bank loans to the tune of millions in their names by fraudulent means. Aggrieved employees, who now face arrest for dud cheques and failed loan payments, said their company, “City Emperor General Trading LLC”, that has over half a dozen establishments under its umbrella, including the “Al Qathara Supermarket and department stores in Abu Dhabi”, where they were working, opened accounts in their names and made salary transfers to several banks simultaneously to take out huge loans.
Gulf News made several attempts to contact the owner of the company, but he refused to comment.
"We were requested by the company's managing director to take personal loans to salvage the company from a financial crisis, and the company assured us it would be solely responsible for the monthly payments," said Mohammad Iqbal Saidu Mohammad, accounting manager with the firm.
Threatened
He added those employees who did not agree were threatened by the management, and many others were made to sign documents, which were used by the company to open accounts and apply for loans without their knowledge. Mohammad Iqbal claims the company has taken loans in his name up to a total amount of over AED 700000, and now the company is not paying the instalments, he has cases filed against him by banks.
According to him, although his salary was AED 7500, the company gave a false salary certificate of AED 12500 to banks, and transferred the amount for five months in order to make him eligible for loans. Another employee, Rajesh, has loans of AED 73000 from the National Bank of Dubai, AED 78000 from United Arab Bank Dubai and AED 45000 on credit from HSBC Dubai.
"When they asked me to take a loan for the company, I thought it would be just one loan, and that too for a small amount since my salary is only Dh2,000. It was only when I started getting calls from several banks, I realised the company had shown my salary as AED 10000, and cheated me by making me sign some bank documents," said Rajesh. Rajesh also said he was in jail for two weeks and the company did nothing to bail him out.
Substantiating their claims were copies of letters written by the company to banks requesting them time to clear the dues. As shown to Gulf News, the letters read: "As instructed by the employer, some of our employees voluntarily came forward to help this supermarket venture to improve its unfavourable financial position by providing funds which they took as personal loans and through their credit cards from your bank, and we utilised these funds to ease our fund crunch to a great extent."
"In view of the above circumstances, we take full responsibility to settle all the dues of our employees, and are willing to arrive at a mutual settlement with you to clear them in monthly instalments." The employees also said in many cases, salary transfers and cash withdrawals and other transactions were made from their accounts even in the absence of the account holders, some of whom were out of the UAE. According to the employees, three of their colleagues have already been arrested, now the company has reported their names to the labour department as absconders.
"We have reported the matter to the Central Bank, and all other respective banks, and they are investigating the issue. Complaints have also been lodged with the Indian embassy and Amnesty International.
"We live in constant fear of being arrested for no fault of ours. The company is financially capable of clearing the debts and they have the moral responsibility to get us out of this mess," Rajesh said.
Legal expert: Workers 'responsible'
Ignorance of facts is pardonable. But ignorance of the law is never pardonable, said a legal expert implying that the employees are ultimately responsible for financial liabilities in their names. "In my opinion, the criminal liability of dud cheques remain with the employees and no court will entertain any arguments otherwise."
"We can look at the issue in two different ways. From the criminal perspective, the criminal liability lies with the employees because no matter how they landed in the situation, they signed the cheques in good faith and convinced the banks they were capable of repaying the loans."
However, from a civil point of view, if the employees can produce documents acceptable to the court to substantiate that the company had taken responsibility for payment of dues, the banks can hold the employer also liable for the payments.
According to her, the only substantial grounds for winning the case is if the employees can prove by documentary evidence and witnesses that they were misrepresented and the company had forced them into signing documents. "In that case, they can file a case of fraud against the company. But unfortunately they will not win if they do not have strong witnesses and documentary evidence," said the expert.
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