Man swindled of nearly Dh100,000 after false loan promise in UAE

Dubai - The case unfolded between March 2018 and June 2019.

A 40-year-old shipment employee duped, with runaway accomplices, an Italian businessman of $27,000 (Dh99,172) by falsely claiming to him they could help him get a huge loan, the Court of First Instance has heard.
According to public prosecution records, the Nigerian man falsely claimed to the businessman that they (he and his accomplices) could help him get a $20 million (Dh73.46 million) loan. They pretended to be working for a development fund, which they claimed to be chaired by a VVIP.
The man is also accused of forging a letter which he attributed to official authorities here, stating that a wiring of $20 million was blocked due to suspected money laundering.
The case unfolded between March 2018 and June 2019.
The complainant, a 48-year-old Italian businessman, said he is the manager of an exports company in Brazil. "I met a man (one of the runaways), who claimed to me he worked for a development fund in the UAE. He said he could help me get loans from that fund. He asked for my contact details."
When other persons later called him, pretending to work for that fund, the businessman told them about his wish to obtain a $20 million loan. "They asked about details pertaining to my company. After sending them some documents about my business, one of them, posing as a PhD holder, and claiming that he worked for a VVIP who chairs the fund, later called me and said they approved to finance my projects to the tune of $20 million over a period of 10 years under a contractual agreement," the complainant recalled during investigation.
However, they sent him some documents stating that a wiring of $20 million had been blocked.
He recounted to the prosecution investigator how he was lured to come to the UAE by the defendants to complete some procedures at the notary public office and pay $23,000 (Dh84,480) towards that end.
The businessman lodged a complaint at Al Muraqqabat police station when he was told by a legal consultant that the documents he received from the accused were fake.
The legal consultant, an American citizen, corroborated the businessman's statement.
A 31-year-old travel agent and a 42-year-old assistant saleswoman, both Kenyans, are accused in the case of possessing over $75,000 (Dh275,478) and $144,000 (Dh528,920), respectively, money which is believed to be ill-gotten.
The trial has been adjourned to December 29.
mary@khaleejtimes.com