A citizen, his wife and 16 other defendants of different nationalities have been convicted in 12 cases for harming public funds, forgery, bribery, profiteering, appropriation, commercial fraud, and disrupting a public facility.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation sentenced the first defendant and his wife to prison for 66 years and fined them Dh39 million.

The court also sentenced the other defendants to prison. Their sentence ranges between three and 15 years. They have also been fined a total of Dh13 million.

The ruling came after the Public Prosecution referred the defendants for establishing private warehouses, storing expired food and other consumer materials and re-selling them by illegally amending the expiration dates on those products.

The defendants altered the main features and dates of expiry, provided incorrect and misleading commercial data for the products, including organic food products, endangering people's health and lives.

Additionally, they promoted the adulterated out-of-date products using misleading advertising with incorrect data which intended to induce the public to buy such products, claiming that they are of good quality and fit for consumption.

They have also been convicted for the following: soliciting and accepting gifts in exchange for exerting purported influence by claiming to be able to intervene with a public authority to obtain an advantage; laying a water pipe to connect a farm in breach of regulations and without installing a meter; destroying pipes belonging to the body responsible for water distribution by connecting a water pipe from a farm to the main pipe; resulting in a reduction in the flow of water and disrupting the activities of the public body.

They also intentionally caused damage to electricity equipment in six properties that belong to the first defendant by disconnecting the main protection of the electrical panel. This caused a short-circuit and led to the disruption of electricity provided by the public body and power had been cut-off to other beneficiaries.

Moreover, they intentionally committed an act that would endanger the lives of others by disconnecting and randomly connecting the wires of the electrical panels in the properties belonging to the first defendant in breach of the conditions and standards, an act that could lead to the risk of an electrical leak and ignition, resulting in serious damage.

The defendants also attempted to appropriate the public road separating two farms and to disrupt public transport by merging the two farms, by unlawfully using the road separating the two agricultural holdings, as well as forging official documents and electronic files which they used to commit these crimes.

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