A 30-year-old man is accused of using his brother's passport to travel from Dubai International Airport to Germany.
The man, from Ghana, entered the UAE on a visit visa with his own passport but when travelling to Germany he used a French passport that belongs to his brother, prosecutors allege.
A security guard on the plane suspected something was amiss with the man and asked to see his passport. He then noticed that the man in the photo was not the man sat before him.
He was returned to Dubai and accused of using another person's passport and also of forging a UAE entry stamp on the French passport.
The accused was trying to travel to Germany using a French passport as Africans often have difficulty entering Germany, he told prosecutors.
The incident was reported to airport security on May 9 and the man was referred to Dubai Criminal Court on Tuesday. A date for trial has yet to be set.