UAE: Dubai Official 'accepted bribes for illegal visas'

A government official has been accused of taking AED40,000 ($10,000) in bribes to process illegal visas for entry to Dubai, it was reported on Thursday.

The official from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs appeared in Dubai’s Court of First Instance on Wednesday on charges of bribery.

The 33-year-old Emirati, identified only as YA, stands accused of processing family residence visas without the proper required documentation such as marriage or tenancy certificates, and even where the applicant was ineligible for various reasons.

YA allegedly received AED500 for a single adult’s residency visa and AED300 for a child visa. His alleged accomplice was a Pakistani businessman known only as RA, from whom he collected a total of AED40,000 in bribes, the newspaper said.

YA was charged with bribery, forgery and use of forged documents, while RA was charged with offering bribe to a public officer and aiding and abetting YA in the forgery.

The alleged illegal transactions were reportedly carried out during August and September last year.