DOHA: A case of two top finance officials from a premier educational institution allegedly demanding a bribe of QR3m ($824,000) from an insurer for renewing its contract has come to light.
A criminal court, which is hearing the case, held a marathon session yesterday in which several sleuths from the state law-enforcement agency appeared as witnesses.
This is the first case of its kind being tried by a Qatari court. The investigators videoed the entire incident and the recording shows, in two episodes, the accused making their demand for cash and later receiving it.
The insurer which blew the whistle is a foreign company with operations here. It already had a contract with the educational institution in question for providing health and insurance cover to its employees.
The existing contract of the insurance company with the educational institution, which was signed with another foreign insurer acting as a middleman on a commission of 10 percent, was due to expire on June 30 this year.
One of the accused, an Asian and a top finance official in the educational institution, called up the manager of the insurance company concerned and said he had been instructed to speak to him by his bosses as the time to renew the contract was approaching.
The insurance company’s manager told the court yesterday that he was told by the accused that there was no need for the middleman for renewal of the contract this time.
The accused allegedly hinted that in lieu of this favour he would need a “gift”.
The manager of the insurance company claimed that he replied to the accused that since his was a global firm he would not be able to offer him any illegal commission.
The next thing the manager did was that he informed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ministry of Interior about the incident.
The CID officials asked him to carry on with the “negotiations” so that the accused could be trapped. A trap was, thus, laid by the CID and the accused, the top finance official and his assistant, walked straight into it.
First, the two accused held a meeting with the insurance firm’s manager in a café and passed on a piece of paper with QR3m written on it. The episode was videoed by the CID.
Later, a meeting was fixed in a seaside luxury hotel, where the money was to be handed over to the accused duo. Interestingly, the QR3m in cash to be handed over to the accused was given to the insurance company’s manager by the CID.
This episode was also videoed. The moment the duo accepted the briefcase full of cash, they were caught red-handed and taken into custody.
Charges were filed by the Public Prosecution after questioning and the matter was referred to court. The case is going on, Al Sharq reported yesterday.
THE PENINSULA
