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Owners of stolen buses reel under financial pressure

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Murad Ahmed, manager of Juma Khalfan Al Muhairi contracting company, one of the victims of the scam, said, “We are suffering huge financial losses because of the stolen buses. We had rented out 25 buses to the transport company. All these buses were purchased through bank loans. For the loan of every bus, the company pays a monthly instalment of Dh4,000. But, with the buses gone, there is no income from them, apart from the huge financial losses.”

All the 72 buses taken on rent from different rent-a-car companies in Dubai by Jasim Jaber Transport in Sharjah reportedly went missing last month. Sharjah Police have launched an investigation to find the missing buses and the company officials but they have not made any breakthrough yet.

On February 14, representatives from the 30 car rental companies went to the Muraqqabat police station to lodge a complaint. However, police officials asked them to lodge the complaint in Sharjah “which we did”, Ahmed said.

Renjith, director of Carill Group, another affected company, said, “This is the first time a scam like this has happened in the UAE involving so many transport buses.”

His company had rented out nine buses to Jaber Transport. “Now we are in deep trouble. We have to pay Dh36,000 in instalments every month to the bank against the loan we took to buy these buses,” he said.

Renjith said, “The Sharjah company, which had an office at Bank Street, approached each of us and took these Toyota buses (30 and 15 seaters) on rent citing that they were going to rent them out to different schools in Sharjah. However, the company office has been closed since the end of January and the company officials have absconded with the buses.”

The Sharjah Police are investigating but there has been no breakthrough even after nearly one month. “We don’t know how to handle the situation,” he added.

The Director of Al Gharb Police Station, Grasim Al Mashqoni, said they had referred the case to the Sharjah Public Prosecution. The police had also launched an investigation into the case and were monitoring all entry and exit points in the country.

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