Dh27 million Dubai land fraud: Expats fake woman's signature, 9 involved

Dubai - "The woman, whom the defendant brought with him and introduced as the owner, was wearing a niqab"

The Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Monday a fraud case amounting to Dh27 million involving nine people.

Dubai public prosecution accused a 39-year-old Azerbaijani and a 28-year-old Turkmenistan woman of forging title deeds of two plots of land located in Palm Jumeirah.

The main accused used the forged papers to register the sale contract of the units at an accredited office at the Land Department.

A complaint was lodged on June 13 last year at the Bur Dubai police station.

With those forged documents, they made an Indian investor believe they owned the properties and sold them to him for Dh27 million.

They also impersonated a woman, when forging an Iranian and a Canadian passports, claiming she is the owner of the units.

An Indian, two Syrians, a Russian, a Turk, a German woman and a Kazakh are charged with aiding and abetting in the crimes by possessing some of the ill-earned money.

A Jordanian legal specialist told the prosecutor they discovered the case when they were investigating a non-objection letter attributed to their property developer and which had been used in the sale of two plots of land.

"We found that the documents bore fake signatures. We then conducted an internal probe with all parties. The registrar, who ran the transactions, claimed the woman owner was present and signed the sale contract. However, her lawyer told us that she had been away from the UAE since 2014."

The specialist added: "We then contacted a General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners' Affairs branch and learned from them that the woman did not enter the UAE since 2014. The passport used in completing the transaction was forged and the entry seal on it was fake."

The 48-year-old Indian complainant, a manager of a renowned perfume company, said that he paid the Dh27 million by cheque. "The woman, whom the defendant brought with him and introduced as the owner, was wearing a niqab. She did not enter the office of registration but stayed in the parking lot. I could not bring myself to ask her to show her face out of respect."

He told the investigator that he kept copies of his WhatsApp conversations with the fraudsters. "During the registration of the sale contract, I was told that it is not compulsory that both parties be present at the same time to strike the deal."

The court will hear the case again on October 14.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai