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Man conned of Dh46,000

Pinto said he arrived in the UAE on July 20 following a job offer from Corporate Technology Company in Dubai. “I saw an advertisement in a newspaper which mentioned that a one-bedroom apartment was available on rent in Satwa. I called an agent who introduced himself as Thomas from Kerala, who showed me an apartment in Satwa and asked me for a rent of Dh46,000 a year,” he said.

Pinto said that the agent insisted he pay the money in cash at his office on Naif Road. “But when I approached my employer, they advised me to pay the rent by cheque. The real estate man insisted that I should pay him in cash, otherwise he would rent out the flat to someone else.”

“I convinced the PRO of my company to pay the rent amount of Dh46,000 in cash. On July 29, the PRO accompanied me to the real estate office and we made the payment and Thomas told me that I would get the apartment key the next day. But I was shocked to find his office closed the following day. I tried to call him up, but his mobile phone was switched off,” Pinto said

“When I went to lodge a complaint at the Naif police station, I was shocked to find 14 other people in the police station conned by the same man in a similar manner. Most of them had paid money to a Filipina lady appointed by the alleged fraudster. Further, we learnt that his name was not Thomas, but Anil Kumar from Cochin.”

The police have confiscated the passport of the Filipina girl. The culprit was, however, caught and handed over to the police two weeks back.

But Pinto’s company was very upset over the incident and terminated his service.

“They demanded the Dh40,000 back which I managed to bring from India to repay them. At present, I am without a job and have lost a huge sum of money.”

• UAE