ABU DHABI // A shop owner faces charges of importing illegal military-grade electronic equipment and computer chips, and then forging documents to cover the crime.
M K S, 46, had claimed at the Federal Supreme Court that the equipment was for the use of two government entities, which cannot be named after a legal order by the judge.
On Monday, the first witness to give testimony was S M, 44, who works in the office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that monitors imports of weapons and military equipment.
He said the defendant was first contacted to talk about his procedures for imports.
“We received information that M K S had imported equipment from the United States, which we [the committee responsible for imports] then reshipped to America.” S M said the equipment in the shipment consisted of electronic devices capable of military and civilian use, which were usually employed in the development or maintenance of weapons.
“We then contacted the defendant and explained the procedures of acquiring such equipment, and we made him sign a pledge not to repeat the actions.
“We later received information that he had reimported without sticking to the procedures.”
The equipment found was three to four medium-sized cartons that contained small electronic devices, the witness said.
He said M K S had confessed that he had wanted to send the equipment to a research centre in his hometown.
The second witness, S T, a state security officer, said the defendant had established his electronics shop in 2012.
It was also alleged he was cooperating with a research centre in his hometown, where he used the forged documents of government entities to make orders.
“In March 2013, M K S imported three devices from the United States to the UAE. They were then meant to make their way to Syria,” he said.
“But the shipment was reshipped to America due to UAE laws and procedures. After four months, the defendant tried to repeat his activities, but this time starting from China and going to the UAE by air, to then travel to Syria by land,” he said.
“M K S was asked by the manufacturer to provide the last user of the device, which is why he forged documents claiming they were for the government entities. The equipment that reached Syria was first sent to the defendant’s main office before reaching the research centre.”
The witness also said the centre was specialised in the development of weapons, and was under the current rulership of the country and is supervised by the government.
He said the defendant had used the UAE as a moderator to import and export such equipment and that this action harmed the country’s reputation and its relations with other countries.
Judge Falah Al Hajeri directed that information on the defendant not be disclosed to the media to protect his family and adjourned the case until April 13.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
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Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
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“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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