DUBAI // A man said he had magical powers to bring money down from the stars in an attempt to con his victim out of US$75,000, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday.
M S, 44, and his alleged accomplices M A, 35 and A A, 41, all from Sudan, are charged with possessing $465,300 (Dh1.7 million) in fake banknotes and of attempted fraud.
H A, 42, an Omani, said three months before Ramadan he began receiving calls from one of the defendants telling him that he could make him rich.
“He told me that he had powers to bring money through the stars and that he was a famous religious man who had a great knowledge of astronomy,” said H A.
“He asked me for cash to buy holy water and other things to use in order to increase my money. I ignored him, but he kept calling and then he asked to meet me.”
Eventually, H A agreed to meet one of the defendants in Al Ain, who asked for Dh7,000 to buy the necessary materials. H A refused and left, but 20 days later the defendant called him again and asked for another meeting.
“I went along and then he showed me something that looked like saffron and said that he had bought it for Dh3,500 so he could use it to increase my wealth,” said H A.
“He asked if I wanted to buy it but I again refused. He called me again at the beginning of Ramadan and so I called Dubai Police, who asked me to play along so that the man could be arrested.”
H A was then contacted by a second defendant, who also promised to make him rich. This man initially asked H A for $135,000 then agreed to reduce it to $75,000.
He told him the cash would be used to buy a chemical to remove a United Nations stamp from the hundreds of thousands of dollar bills he had in his possession.
“They showed me two bills with this stamp and then used a powder to clean off the black stamp. I informed the police who told me to proceed with the agreement so that they could arrest the men,” said H A.
On August 7 the three men were arrested in Al Baraha area during a meeting with H A.
“One of them was seen heading to his car and picking up a box, which contained the fake dollars,” said A M A, 27, an Emirati police officer. “We arrested them although they resisted and tried to run away.”
All three defendants denied the charges.
“I’ve never seen this cash before,” said M S.
The next hearing will be on November 2.
salamir@thenational.ae
