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Conmen conned

DUBAI - The offer to magically turn stripes of black paper into hundred-dollar bills in exchange for a small fee sounds too good to be true, but too many have fallen prey to this crooked scheme.

One Saudi national who was visited by two `artistes' offering to multiply his cash prepared a nasty surprise for the duo - he called the police who laid a trap for the suspects and caught them red-handed

K.M., 30, Cameroonian, and B.M.R., 25, Nigerian, were awarded a two-year prison term and Dh 5,000 fine each to be followed by deportation.

Police got a call from the Saudi victim of the crime, A.H.A., on February 28 this year. He informed police about the African men coming to him and offering to multiply his money, having demonstrated their `magical powers' the day before. He said the duo were returning in the evening to complete the deal and that he needed the help of the police to apprehend them.

The police units arrived at the hotel where A.H.A. was staying at around 6.45pm and they prepared a trap for the two men. K.M. arrived with two other men but without B.M.R. The men asked A.H.A. for Dh 6,000 as the cost of a special chemical they will use to turn the black stripes of paper into dollar bills.

As the men were leaving the room the police arrested them. In their possession was a metal safe box which they said contained money and a chemical substance. K. M. said the safe was his and admitted that B.M.R. was waiting in a black car parked outside the hotel monitoring the situation.

One of the other two men told police they had visited A.H.A. on February 27 and demonstrated their `money multiplication' skills. B.M.R. managed to escape and is still at large. A search of the culprits' residences revealed more `money multiplication' paraphernalia.

• UAE