Tenant duped of Dh17,700 by bogus flat owner

The painter denied fraud and forgery charges in the Court of First Instance.

A building painter and his friend, who is currently at large, allegedly managed to defraud a man of Dh17,700 after claiming that the former owned a flat for rent. 
Court records show the 27-year-old Pakistani painter and his compatriot accomplice forged a title deed of a residential unit, wrongly attributing it to the Dubai Land Department.
He put an online ad, offering to let the flat located in the International City after falsely claiming he was the owner. He later sent his accomplice, who pretended to be his assistant, to show it to the victim. Accordingly, the victim was convinced to sign a tenancy contract and handed them four cheques. The first cheque worth Dh17,700 was encashed a few hours later. 
The painter denied fraud and forgery charges in the Court of First Instance.
The complainant, a 27-year-old Palestinian, said he saw an ad about a flat for rent in the English cluster on a website.
"I called the number posted within the ad and a man, who claimed to be a real estate agent, told me the flat was open and I could go to check it at any time."
The complainant went there at 8pm on March 7. 
"I saw it and liked it and then agreed on the annual rent with a man who claimed to be the owner. He then sent his 'assistant' to my workplace, with a tenancy contract and the title deed (which I took photos of and handed them to the police later)," he told the prosecutor. 
"I handed that assistant four cheques, the first one worth Dh17,700 inclusive of the Dewa bills, deposit and commission. The bogus agent left the office after promising he would certify the contract and work on other necessary papers and then bring me the documents".
At 6pm, the complainant received a message from his bank that the cheque worth Dh17,700 was encashed. When he tried to contact those men, he found their phones switched off. He complained against them at Al Rashidiya police station after he failed to reach any of them. 
mary@khaleejtimes.com
 

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