Conviction upheld for woman who stole identity to work in sex trade

A one-year sentence for a woman convicted of posing as an Emirati to work as a prostitute was upheld this morning at the Court of Appeal. MT, a 29-year-old Palestinian, was arrested in a sting operation and denied the charges. She was convicted of using another's identity card, impersonation, obstructing justice and obtaining lost money. A first sergeant testified that an informant told police an Iraqi woman working in the sex trade told him he could hire an Emirati prostitute for Dh3,000. The informant testified that MT called him and claimed to be Emirati. An operation was then arranged to meet and arrest MT, records said. Records said that when MT met with the informant, she said she was an Emirati named AA. She got undressed and said they had to have sex immediately because she was busy. Officers then moved in and arrested her. Police said that as she was being taken into custody, she said she was an anti-narcotics police informant co-operating with Abu Dhabi Police, then began begging for a pardon.