Dubai: A fish salesman has been sentenced to two years in jail for stealing around 900kg of shrimps worth Dh87,500 and selling it to seafood restaurants.

The 43-year-old Egyptian vendor, S.A., who worked for the Dubai Fishermen’s Cooperative Association (DFCA), struck secret deals with seafood restaurants and promised to provide them with around 100 boxes of shrimps without obtaining the DFCA’s permission.

The Dubai Court of First Instance also fined S.A. Dh87,500 and ordered him to repay the same amount after convicting him of abusing his duty at the government-owned DFCA and stealing tens of boxes of shrimps between March and September of 2014.

The accused was sentenced in absentia after he failed to appear in court and enter a plea.