The two, and five other suspects, are accused of defrauding
DIB, in which the Dubai government owns a 30 percent stake, of 1.8 billion
dirhams ($496.5 million). It was not clear why they were charged previously as
private sector workers.
The United Arab Emirates penal code stipulates more severe
punishment for government employees and UAE law treats all workers in
state-related entities as public sector employees.
Dubai, the Gulf’s tourism and trading hub, launched an
anti-corruption campaign in 2008 that saw the arrest of several high-profile
business figures, including government ministers.
Since its debt crisis, Dubai, one of the UAE’s seven
emirates, has been doing forensic audits at state-linked firms.
The two men, Pakistani citizens, were arrested in 2008 and
first appeared before a Dubai criminal court in March this year.
But prosecutors refiled the case against the two defendants
on Sunday after the court asked them to do so in August, charging them as
government officials.
Dubai police have not been able to arrest two of the other
suspects, a US and a Turkish citizen, who fled the country.
Prosecutors say the seven suspects swindled DIB by
submitting “documents and invoices about fraudulent deals.”
The case also involves three British businessmen who are
being detained in Dubai and are facing trial.
Last December, Dubai adopted a new law under which the state
can impose prison terms of up to 20 years for financial crimes.
The law came a little over a month after Dubai World, the
emirate’s largest conglomerate, shocked global markets when it asked creditors
for a payment standstill on no less than $26 billion of debt.
