A court in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday resumed closed-door hearings to try a former minister accused of wasting nearly Dh155 million in funds in the form of fees imposed on the public by the ministry he had headed.
Tuesday’s session was the second since the court began trying the ex-minister and some of his aides in late May on charges of wasting public funds, the Dubai-based Emarat Alyoum Arabic language daily said on Wednesday.
The unnamed ex-minister was not present at the first trial and the paper did not make clear if the official was in court on Tuesday.
The other defendants, former aides to the ex-minister, attended last month’s trial, during which defence lawyers requested their release on bail.
Emarat Alyoum Arabic language daily did not name the minister but said his charges include facilitating the unlawful seizure of state funds of around Dh155.4 million by the other defendants.
It quoted the prosecutor as saying the ex- minister issued a decision in 2005, when he was holding a ministerial post, compelling clients to have their applications approved in return for high fees without issuing another decision about collecting those fees.
The court also charged another defendant, who headed a government department, of collecting those fees for the ministry.
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