Bogus footballer cleared of cheating women with marriage promises in Dubai

Dubai - The Court of First Instance cleared him of fraud, making criminal threats and blackmail charges.

An Emirati man on trial for swindling two women of Dh247,000 and Dh10,000 after promising to marry them has had his acquittal verdict upheld by the Court of Appeals. The man allegedly introduced himself to the women as a renowned footballer.
Public prosecution documents show the 30-year-old jobless man gave his personal information to a matchmaker and introduced himself as a local club's international footballer who is seeking a wife. The matchmaker added his name (which he gave to her and which was not real) to the group of bachelors, who were looking to get married, on the chat list.
The Court of First Instance cleared him of fraud, making criminal threats and blackmail charges. But the public prosecution filed an appeal against the primary ruling and the appellate court upheld the acquittal verdict.
He was accused of blackmailing and threatening the first complainant. He allegedly threatened to get her jailed and defame her in front of her parents. He made the threats in text and voice messages via WhatsApp so as to intimidate her into dropping her accusations at the police station.
The first woman, who fell victim to the 'false suitor's fake promises', is a 37-year-old. She said she was in contact with the accused via chat in 2015 and gave him Dh247,000 after he claimed to her he would open a business to secure their future together.
However, she discovered later that he was lying after learning that the real footballer got engaged. When she confronted him, "he threatened he would tell my brother and my parents about our relationship if I pursued legal action against him", she said.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai