Duo dupes scrap trader of Dh455,000 in Dubai

The defendant denied at the Court of First Instance charges of fraud and using others' identification document copy.

A jobless man was charged, along with a runaway accomplice, with fraud at a Dubai court after they allegedly duped a trader of Dh 455,000 by selling him scrap parts they did not own.
Prosecutors accused the 24-year-old Pakistani man, together with the fugitive, of using a copy of an Emirati man's identity card to fool the victim into believing their claims that they were the owners of the scrap parts. 
The defendant denied at the Court of First Instance charges of fraud and using others' identification document copy.
Prosecutors referred him to trial with a recommendation that he is slapped a strict penalty under the law.
The incident, that took place on August 23 last year, was reported to Al Barsha police station. 
During the public prosecution investigation, the complainant, a 48-year-old Pakistani trader, said that he went with his three friends to a general contracting company to buy scrap machinery. "The defendant was among the persons who met me. He introduced himself as an administrative employee in the company and I was shown an Emirates ID copy, which the runaway suspect claimed to be his. The identity card belonged to an Emirati man."
The trader recounted to the public prosecution investigator how he was lured into paying Dh455,000 in cash. "They told me that I could pick up the scrap after payment. However, after getting the cash, they left the office. One of them pretended that he had an emergency."
The trader had to leave after being reassured and promised that he would get the machinery papers and the payment receipt the next day.
"I went back to Abu Dhabi. When I tried later to get the payment receipt and the papers, I could not get a hold of any of the suspects," the trader told the prosecutor.
An Emirati female manager at the general contracting firm said that the accused came to their office with another man in order to purchase the scrap parts. "They claimed they owned a general trading business. A contract was drafted and signed for the scrap sale. I learned later that those two men had brought people to our premises to buy the scrap and that they met them outside my office."
The manager added that the defendant tried to give her Dh250,000. "I did not receive the money from him but I told him to deposit it at the accounting section." 
The trader (complainant) and a man, who was with him on the incident day, identified the accused among other suspects at the police station.
The court will pronounce a ruling on December 16.
mary@khaleejtimes.com