Abu Dhabi public servant held for taking bribe

An Arab employee in a government department in Abu Dhabi was arrested for taking bribe from contractors in a suburban residential area in exchange for power services, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The employee at the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), an affiliate of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, was indicted by the prosecutor of receiving Dh10,000 from two contracting firms in return of connecting power to their residential projects in Khalifa City just outside the capital.

The two companies reported the employee to ADDC after he refused to give them the service before they pay him Dh10,000.

“The defendant was caught red handed as he received Dh10,000…the public funds prosecutor indicted him and referred him to court,” the Abu Dhabi-based Arabic language daily Alittihad said.

It said the unnamed employee claimed that the two companies offered him the money as “alms” just before the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.