Identity thief transacted with five banks pretending to be the air hostess
Dubai: When Dubai resident Candy Crasto was stopped at the airport for a bounced cheque case in 2012, she knew nothing about it. It was just the beginning of a terrible financial mess that would drag on for the next four years.
The Indian senior cabin stewardess was going on her first flight after a year-long maternity leave when she was flagged at the airport and taken to Bur Dubai police station. A Dh80,000 cheque issued in her name for a credit card with a Dubai-based bank was returned due to insufficient funds.
“I was surprised because I didn’t have any relationship with [that bank]. We deposited my husband’s passport at the police station [so I could be released] and we could go to the bank to check,” Crasto, 33, told Gulf News.
“When the bank officials took out the case papers and saw that it was in my name with a man’s photograph, they immediately realised it was a fraud. Every detail in the form was the same as that in my passport except the fact that my picture had been replaced with a man’s photograph, my signature was changed and the gender made ‘female’ from ‘male’,” she added.
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Based on the documents Crasto obtained from the bank and from police, it was evident that the con man who had stolen her identity had crafted a fake passport as well as a UAE residence visa with all her details, faked her salary certificate and company ID. All the documents, however, were stamped “original seen” by the bank.
“I had to go through forensics to sign papers [to prove that I] was not involved. After one year, we thought that everything had been closed.”
But Crasto thought wrong.
In March 2013, Crasto was detained again at the airport.
“As soon as I was pulled out, I told them to contact Bur Dubai police station. They called them up and they matched two and two and realised that it was a case of fraud. The same documents were used,” Crasto said.
Police then advised Crasto to file a case against the con man at Al Ghusais police station.
Crasto said the con man applied for credit cards and loans to five banks in the UAE to the tune of around Dh1 million in total. She only learnt about the remaining three banks after seeing them in her credit report.
Crasto said she liaised with all the five banks to clear her name. Two banks within weeks agreed to clear her police cases and another bank cleared her name in their system. Crasto obtained clearances from police and Public Prosecution on the cases.
But two banks, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and Ajman Bank, have not heeded her request. When Gulf News raised the issue with the two banks, a spokesperson from ADIB said they had proceeded to clear her name in the system, which will reflect by October end.
“We confirm that the bank has contacted Ms Crasto to apologise to her and assure her that the bank will promptly remove her name from the black list at the Al Etihad Credit Bureau. We have also explained the unfortunate oversight and confirmed to her that normal risk rating has been reflected in the Central Bank Risk Bureau too,” the spokesperson told Gulf News.
Gulf News’ repeated requests for an official comment from Ajman Bank remained unheeded until the time of going to press.
“The frustrating part is Ajman Bank knows that it is a fraud case,” says Crasto. “It’s embarrassing because I have to plead and plead for an appointment to talk to them. They’ll say, ‘We’ll do it. Call me in a week and it will be done’. And I have been doing this for the past two years,” she said.
The almost five years of running around to settle the cases against her has wreaked havoc on Crasto’s health and career. She developed psoriasis because of stress and has not been promoted for the past six years because of her absences from work as she has been attending court hearings and doing the rounds of police stations.
The family also used up their savings to pay for a lawyer in the earlier stages of the problem.
“It’s been a nightmare. This incident has caused us a lot of stress. I’ve knocked on every door, but there is no help,” Sigmond Marignan, 41, Crasto’s husband, told Gulf News.
“This is not just a one-person job. I hope authorities catch the guys responsible for this.”
Crasto said she hopes no one suffers the same fate as her. She also hopes that her name will be cleared as soon as possible.
“I just want to be able to know that tomorrow, if I want a loan from any bank, nobody’s going to stop me,” she said.
“It’s not my fault [what’s happening to me] but I’m going through so much. I just want to be able to breathe normally again.”
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