Man gets 5-year prison term for embezzlement

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a January Court of Appeals ruling, sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of embezzling over JD90,000 from a local bank in mid-2000. 

The Court of Appeals declared the defendant guilty of embezzling JD91,500 over a period of two years and handed him the maximum punishment. 

Court papers said the defendant worked at a local bank and decided to make quick cash.

The defendant obtained loans from customers and forwarded part of the cash to his wife’s bank account.

“The defendant repeated his actions over 50 times over a two-year period and informed his wife that he had obtained a loan from the bank,” court papers said.

The defendant’s wife was also charged with being an accessory in the embezzlement scheme but was declared innocent by the court for lack of evidence, court paper added.

The defendant contested the Court of Appeals’ ruling arguing that the “prosecution failed to provide solid evidence to convict him with the embezzlement charges”.

The Court of Appeals’ attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the ruling. 

The higher court ruled that the Court of Appeals proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment. 

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Mohammad Khashashneh.