Dubai: Security guards exchange man's Dh75,000 with fake dollars, jailed

Dubai - The victim tried to illegally convert his dirhams after seeing an ad on Instagram.

The Dubai Criminal court sentenced two African security guards (including one in absentia) to a year’s imprisonment, followed by deportation and a fine of Dh200,000 for cheating an Arab man by replacing his Dh75,000 with fake US dollars, after posting an ad on Instagram.

According to police investigations, the victim tried to illegally convert his dirhams into US dollars, avoiding official channels to get an attractive price. He saw an ad in Instagram, offering $30,000 for Dh75,000. He met one of the two guards who handed him counterfeit dollars.

Dubai Police arrested one of the accused and referred him to the Public Prosecution. He was later produced before the Criminal Court, which sentenced him and his partner (in absentia) to a year in prison and a fine of Dh200,000.

The victim said that while browsing Instagram, he saw an advertisement for buying and selling dollars and contacted the persons, who told him they were living abroad. They gave the telephone number of their contacts in the UAE.

He then met two people at a mall in Dubai, who agreed to pay him $30,000 for Dh75,000, much more than the amount he would have got at an official exchange house.

He was asked to meet them behind a hotel in Frij Al Murar area. One of the accused met him, got into his car, handed him a package containing counterfeit dollars and ran with the dirhams.

Dubai Police identified the two suspects who work as security guards and arrested one of them. He admitted he had partnered with his colleague to deceive people wishing to exchange currencies. They published an ad with a picture of dollars and an attractive trading price. He said he took the amount from the victim in exchange for a bundle of counterfeit dollars.

• Dubai