Duo robs Emirati of Dh14,000 in Dubai 'date' trap

Dubai - A friend introduced him to a woman who sent him her photos and said she was from Romania.

A man, who held an Emirati against his will inside a hotel apartment after luring him to a date with a woman, was sentenced to three years in jail, to be followed by deportation, by a Dubai court.
According to the public prosecution records, the 28-year-old Nigerian man and a compatriot accomplice, 26, stole Dh2,000 from the victim. They also robbed him of his credit card and withdrew Dh12,000 from it.
The Court of First Instance cleared the accomplice of all charges.
 
The men, who worked as a waiter and a cleaner, had been facing charges of illegal confinement, theft at night, threat and unlawful and unauthorised use of others' credit card.
The duo had a woman aide too.
The incident took place on September 17, 2017.
 
The complainant, a 49-year-old trader, said a friend introduced him to a woman who sent him her photos and said she was from Romania.
 
"She invited me over to her hotel room in Al Mankhoul at 2am. However, when I knocked on the door, an African woman opened for me and said the other woman was in the toilet and that she worked as a maid for her," the trader told the prosecutor.
 
"The room was dark and then two men came to me and told me to give them my mobile phones and wallet. They said they would pay the woman, who I had a date with, the money for her bills but I was surprised with what was going on.
"They were pretending to be talking amicably but I knew something was wrong and that I was there locked up as the two men were sitting near the door. They told me to reveal the PIN of my credit card. Then one of them threatened he would assault me unless I gave him the PIN, which I revealed to him as I was so scared."
When they returned his wallet and two mobile phones and let him go, he reported them to the hotel reception.
"I found out later they stole Dh2,000 from my wallet and withdrew Dh12,000 from my credit card," the trader said during investigation.
A police sergeant said they followed up on the robbery and illegal confinement incident after it was reported. "We nabbed the perpetrators at their hotel. They confessed they were involved in other robberies, deprivation of freedom and threatening of people," the sergeant said.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai