Veil hid woman from passport scrutiny

A woman banned from the country entered by using the passport of her husband's niece and hiding behind her veil, the Dubai Criminal Court heard today. Prosecutors said that her Emirati husband SZ, 36, borrowed the passport from his niece SA, 21, by pretending that he wanted to open a bank account for his son under her name. But he then gave it to his Egyptian wife SS, 25, who is banned from the country, so that she could enter through the Dubai International Airport on January 5. They said that SZ submitted the passport along with two others to a passport control officer who did not properly scrutinise the documents as he was an acquaintance. The wife's face was veiled so the officer did not notice she did not match the picture in the passport. It was not clear why the wife was banned from the country. Her presence went undetected for three months, until she admitted what she had done to one of her friends, the Emirati woman DM, 32, who then reported the matter to police. "She told me that she entered the country with the help of her husband as he used his niece's passport while she hid behind her veil," said DM. SZ denied fraudulently using an Emirati passport. His wife was charged with the same offence, as well as entering the country illegally. She confessed to the second charge, but said that she had entered through the Buraimi border and that she was alone at the time. She said her husband did not provide any help to her. The case was adjourned for July 4. By The National