8 employees of deaf club handed prison terms for embezzlement

AMMAN — The Amman Court of First Instance (CFI) on Monday sentenced eight employees who worked at a local deaf club to prison terms ranging from one to two months after the court convicted them of embezzling over JD237,000.

The specialised judicial committee tasked with trying corruption cases at the CFI declared the eight men guilty of negligence and abuse of trust charges, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The court also ordered five of the eight defendants to pay JD229,369 in fines, “the same amount they embezzled from the club”, Petra reported.

The five received a two-month prison term each for the charges.

The remaining three defendants were sentenced to one month each and were ordered to pay JD8,160, which was the same amount that was paid illegally to the club’s board members, according to Petra.

Court documents stated that the defendants, among whom were the club president and other board members, had been extracting 40 per cent of the organisation’s collected cash donations.

“The defendants would deposit the money in their personal accounts,” the court documents said.

Meanwhile, the three other defendants paid salaries in the amount of JD8,160 to two individuals on the administrative board, although the internal bylaws banned payment for such individuals.

Monday’s verdict is subject to appeal by the defendants and the court’s prosecution office at a higher court within the next 30 days.