Dubai expat jailed for blackmailing man over their 'indecent' videos, photos

Dubai - Conversations on WhatsApp were used as prosecution evidence.

A 22-year-old woman, who blackmailed a man with a compromising video unless he paid her BHD200,000 (Dh1.9 million), was sentenced to six months jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.
The Moroccan woman, who didn't have a job, has been detained after reportedly threatening the man, using a video of him having sex with her. She is also accused of harassing the complainant over the phone.
The court found her guilty of the charges and ordered her deportation. The woman's mobile phone was also confiscated.
The case dates back to October 11 last year and was registered at Al Qusais police station.
The complainant, a 39-year-old Bahraini administrative director, said that about two weeks prior to the incident, he met the defendant in an online dating app.
"She said she lived in the UAE and would come to visit Bahrain. On October 6, she called me telling me where she was staying in Bahrain. I went to her and had sex with her," he said.
However, on October 11 last year, the woman sent the complainant a nude picture of him while at her flat. "She said she had other similar photos and that she also filmed me while having sex with her," the complainant told the public prosecution investigator.
The man recounted how the defendant blackmailed him, saying that he had to send the money or she would circulate the photos and videos she claimed to possess.
In his deposition, the complainant said the woman took advantage that he was a known media personality and hid a secret camera while he was in her bedroom.
He filed a complaint against her at the cybercrime department in Bahrain.
The woman was arrested by the department's CID officers on October 24 last year.
She admitted to the charges during police interrogation and public prosecution investigation.
Conversations on WhatsApp were used as prosecution evidence.
The defendant has the right to appeal the court ruling within 15 days.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai