Etisalat probe after $7.4mn 'stolen over two years'

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY: An Etisalat employee has been referred to public prosecution for allegedly embezzling $7.4 million. (ITP Images)

An Etisalat employee accused of attempting to embezzle nearly $7.5 million will be handed over to authorities once an internal investigation is completed.

It is alleged that the employee, a female Emirati national according to UAE daily Gulf News, was able to convert regular payments from the accounts of payrolls into her personal account in local banks, transferring two million dirhams per batch, for more than two years.

The employee, who is in charge of payroll at one of the company's branches, has been referred to the public prosecution, Arabic daily Emarat Alyoum said, citing Etisalat corporate communications manager Ahmed bin Ali.

He told the paper that the company discovered the wrong-doing and formed an internal investigation committee.

He said: "The company has recovered the whole amount, but the internal committee is still investigating the case, and upon completion of the internal investigation, the entire case will be transferred to the judiciary to take legal course."

Company officials said that the discovery of the case confirmed that the company's security procedures had worked.

They stressed that the company was committed to the standards of transparency and financial management.

The employee was caught after her bank noticed that her account had increased dramatically over a short period of time.

They then checked the value of her monthly salary and sent a letter to Etisalat voicing the bank's concerns.

The employee is said to have confessed to her bosses and she was forced to resign, as well as return the full amount.

Etisalat shares fell 2.3 percent on Monday on talk of the probe.

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mmm who has been affected
Posted by Zero on Sunday 14 September 2008 at 14:41 UAE time


As the article mentions she was able to "convert regular payments from the accounts of payrolls into her personal account ".

mmm does it mean the money has been stolen from the salaries of Etisalat employees and not Etisalat itself ?

Etisalat rip-off
Posted by Graham Plater, Munich, Germany on Wednesday 10 September 2008 at 12:17 UAE time


Yes, had the employee been male he might have more easily squandered it instead of keeping it in his account so that his bank could blow the whistle on him. Strange that someone with the wits to steal a few millions should then be dumb enough not to run with the loot instead of waiting around to get caught...

Another proof that women are better money handlers
Posted by Mohammad, Dubai on Wednesday 10 September 2008 at 11:05 UAE time


What is really astonishing is that she managed to keep all the money in her account without spending it on properties or stock market or shopping or any other means.
If it was a guy, he would buy a Ferari .. invest some in some lavish property , etc....

very true
Posted by AirMiles, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 21:56 UAE time

Good to see we all agree. We can all see very clearly there is something rotten, and it seems Dubai is on the receiving end of it all.

Etisalat, in doing what its communications department has asked it to, i.e. "appear positive as we have the money back", has missed the point and only emphasised its position to be laughable. Confidence in the company right now? I can only guess.

It would have been a better plan to congratulate the bank in alerting them as they missed it! At least then they would appear gracious, instead of simply stupid.

Serves them right
Posted by Graham Plater, Munich, Germany on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 19:07 UAE time

Etisalat has been making so much money so easily that it's not surprising that they can afford to mislay a few million. What does surprise me is that the lady didn't eventually say "enough" and take off with the loot in order to enjoy it elsewhere in comfort and safety.

Etisalat fraud.
Posted by hombil, Muscat, Oman on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 16:33 UAE time

I am in agreement with Hazel. Etisalat needs to start damage control exercise immediately. But first change its head of corporate communications!

Etisalat Money siphoned by a lady employee??? Strange....
Posted by Pravin Madhavan, Bausher, Sultanate of Oman on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 16:24 UAE time


As one of my friends rightly pointed out in his comments, incidents like these will really hamper the credibility that UAE has built over a period of 20 odd years, or even more. I am sure all the other GCC states always looked forward to UAE as a role model in the case of being the GCC state that has shown growth in business tremendously in these years. I really feel sad that such a vibrant country has to have such mean people to spoil the country's image. They must be severly punished so as to set an example for the others who have such plans, to ward them off such acts.

Etisalat need a new head of corporate communications
Posted by Hazel, Dubai on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 15:23 UAE time


Seriously, the gentleman's statement is laughable (as all the comments have already demonstrated!)

"the company's security procedures had worked???". The same article clearly stated that there were NONE to detect such fraud. The bank informed them (which is a whole other issue). In principle, the bank has committed a serious breech of confidentiality against their client, regardless of her integrity, or lack of! If I were Etisalat, I'd do some serious damage control immediately. Get a proper spokesperson to make a statement and clarify what went wrong. If need be, apologise to the public for any wrong doing and fix the problem. That's all it takes!

Something amiss!
Posted by SR, Dubai on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 14:59 UAE time


Something amiss here, USD 7.4M by a payroll employee at a branch?? How large is the payroll that you dont detect AED 2M per batch?? I feel this is just the tip of the iceberg!
"company has recovered the full amount" how, was this employee just holding the entire USD 7.4M cash in her account??
Two full audits and nothing till the bank informs?? For something like to go unnoticed for 02 year, ETISALAT should be running hundreds of millions (if not billions) in idle accounts.
For the gentleman who is worried about banks being unprofessional about informing the employer, I guess you are not at all informed about the practices relating to anti money laundering???

Etisalat Probe
Posted by johndo, dubai on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 12:08 UAE time


*Company officials said that the discovery of the case confirmed that the company's security procedures had worked.*

*The employee was caught after her bank noticed that her account had increased dramatically over a short period of time.*

Hmmm, I guess there is someone not accurate here. Etisalat, The Bank or The Press who wrote this article. I am sure no official will comment on this issue, or you will hear a nicely done piece by some PR agency after getting the necessary approvals from their legal department in order to be ... correct!!! I am really worried about those stories that are happening too often these days but I must salute the government for this clean up and hope that they continue doing. Most of us are here for economical or political reasons that forced us to leave our country, we always looked at the UAE in admiration for what its leaders have done in such a short time. Please carry on cleaning but don't stop at any level if big fishes are caught in the net as part of the transparency policy. Way to go UAE.

Am loving this
Posted by RP, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 11:51 UAE time

Every time someone gets caught with their hands in the till recently, the comment from the company involved is to take the stance - this is a good thing.

How can someone getting away with siphoning Dhs 2 million in batches be a good thing?

How, in their words, can the case confirm "that the company's security procedures had worked" when it was the employees bank who blew the whistle on the whole deceit?

No wonder we have to pay so over the top charges here for basic telecommunications services - who knows how much more money is disappearing into accounts of people who have banks who will keep their mouths shut?

How?
Posted by SA, Sharjah, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 11:28 UAE time

I am really surprised as to how she did it? I was the Head of the Payroll section in Etisalat in another branch two years back and I can tell you that Etisalat's system is very secure. Any payroll transaction that takes place is being reviewd by a team of payroll accountants in the Finance department and they used to come to us immediately if they see something strange or if some documents/stamps are missing. So there was no way anyone can steal a fils. How the hell did she do it?

and again...
Posted by AirMiles, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 10:09 UAE time


Banks, construction and now telco. One step closer to having a formal, government level investigation department looking into every large national company and their finances to ensure they are not going to embarass the UAE. The currency of any market is confidence. The UAE cannot afford many more of these.

The irony...
Posted by Bonovox on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 09:56 UAE time

How ironic. Etisalat has been taking its customers for a ride for years via its monopoly. Compare the Internet rates to those around the world and you can see the ridiculous difference. I suppose what goes around comes around...

Etisalat Fraud.
Posted by hombil, Muscat, Oman on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 09:23 UAE time

Over $7ml missing for more than two yeras and the Etisalat corporate communications manager Ahmed bin Ali says that that the company's security procedures had worked! Who is he trying to fool? There are too many questions, which need convincing replies.

USD 7m+
Posted by Obelix, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 09:16 UAE time

Interesting story but full of holes - at least the official version. Payroll employee ? AED 2m were siphoned off every month and no one noticed for two years ? Exactly how big is the payroll of Etisalat that such a sum can go missing and not get picked up month after month ? If money was disappearing from the payroll, surely some employees were not getting paid ? How come no one complained that they hadn't been paid for 2 years ?
The plot thickens, as they say......

Etisalat Probe
Posted by Tasnim Mohamed, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 09:14 UAE time


Emphasising on commitment to transperancy & confirmation on reliable security procedures does not make any sense after losing AED 7.4 million & finding it out after 2 years. Whereas the truth is that it shows to light the total lack of internal control in the organisation where even AED 1 should not go unnoticed.

Inadequate explanation
Posted by kristye, abu dhabi, uae on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 08:25 UAE time

For a big company such as this there needs to be at least two signatories and a lot of accounts control.

Etisalat probe
Posted by Julie, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 06:38 UAE time


Well done, how her bank acted so quickly in noticing large amounts of money in her bank account. That obviously saved the day.

Which planet do we live on?
Posted by Concerned Employee, Dubai on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 05:44 UAE time

The statement from Ahmed Bin Ali "Discovery of the case confirmed that Etisalat security procedures had worked" is hilarious considering that it was the bank which informed the company about the wrong doing and not that the company discovered it.

Why do people issue such irresponsible statements. Do they believe public will buy into everything they say ...

Etisalat
Posted by lily on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 00:50 UAE time

I think the woman was smart, it just goes to show that woman prove themselves top of the list when it comes to using their minds, of course in her case unfortunately she used it unlawfully!

Etisalat
Posted by Simon, Dubai on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 00:40 UAE time

Its hard to beleive for two years the employee was looting and the management didn't get any clue and what about the auditors. Sounds strange.

This is shocking
Posted by Amit on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 00:27 UAE time

This is shocking bcause Banks can contact ur employers if they suspect ne thing fishy..As it is banks in UAE who are unprofessional, they can mistakenly contact ne ones employer

Qualified People!
Posted by Firas Murad, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 00:21 UAE time

Etisalat should be ashamed of itself to state that their security procedures have worked. The whole auditing department should be fired! No wonder I am not investing in any companies in this region! Cheers!

ETISALAT FRAUD
Posted by john, Dubai, UAE on Monday 8 September 2008 at 20:30 UAE time


Hmmmm....I thought that my phone bill was getting a bit expensive!!!

Fraud!
Posted by sinan on Monday 8 September 2008 at 20:30 UAE time

$7million missing and the company has no clue for two years!
The Bank only noticed after two years!!
Come On! There is more to this story!

Corruption
Posted by Claudia, Dubai, UAE on Monday 8 September 2008 at 18:33 UAE time

What i think that is also shocking is that the Bank contacted Etisalat. Can they do that? Shouldnt they contact the account holder?
I just think that it is a breach of client/bank confidentiality but i guess that that doesnt really exist around the local banks

How it worked?
Posted by AbuAnas on Monday 8 September 2008 at 18:03 UAE time

She was stealing for two years and the company had no clue!! it is the bank alert employee who discovered it and alerted Etisalat and their officials says this is a proof that their sec procedures worked!

Sounds like total rubbish
Posted by Jimi, dubai on Monday 8 September 2008 at 17:11 UAE time

Sorry but $7M for a payroll employee...
Give me a break.

Idiots
Posted by Martin, Dubai, UAE on Monday 8 September 2008 at 16:22 UAE time

What's truly shocking about this story isn't the person who embezzled the money but the company she works for.
I can't believe it took 7.4 MILLION DOLLARS before they realized there was some missing!
There would be red lights all over the place if a dirham (or a dollar) was missing....had it happened anywhere else in the world.

Corruption
Posted by Abdul, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday 8 September 2008 at 14:14 UAE time

Is there no end to these scandals? How many more stories are we going to read about money going missing?

Corruption
Posted by Salim ALSuwaidi, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 8 September 2008 at 13:04 UAE time

People should respect their work and never do such a crime, Money talks nowadays but Thanks god they returned all the stolen money so now the guy will know how it is feel to have all money taken away from you, Stupid people should do brain transplant to get to understand.

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