A former employee of Emirates airlines and a Nigerian man have been jailed for a year each for illegally checking in baggage on Emirates flights to Lagos.
While the now-sacked employee, a Kenyan national identified only as DM, has also been fined Dh2,100 in the case in which the airline lost Dh36,000, both of them will be deported once their sentences are over, Dubai Criminal Court ordered in its verdict on Monday.
The intelligent way of bypassing norms to check in baggage by taking bribes was uncovered when on May 8 DM, an Emirates employee at that point of time, appeared for work at 5am though it was her weekly off.
Suspecting foul play, her senior logged into the computer system to discover that she had checked in eight pieces of luggage in some passengers’ names. But on checking with them the passengers disowned the baggage.
It was then found that DM, with a help of a colleague named Agnes – who has since been declared fugitive -- had checked in the bags in the names of some bona fide passengers against a bribe of Dh1,600.
The baggage tags were then handed over to KA who would then arrange to collect them from Lagos airport.
Emirates 24|7
