A conman tricked an unwitting investor into spending tens of thousands of dirhams on a Dubai business that didn't exist, a court heard.
The Egyptian defendant, 36, forged a trade licence for a fictitious petrol company, attributing the bogus document to Dubai's department of economic development.
He then allegedly courted the Emirati backer, 49, by offering him a share of the proceeds of the sale of the company - as long as he stumped up the money required to renew the trading license.
“I saw a post of the license online associated with an advertisement stating that the petrol company needed financing to renew it’s license so it could be sold for a very high price,” said the complainant.
He said he contacted the defendant through the online advert, with the man telling him he was one of he owners of the company and was ready to sell.
"He told me that if I paid for the company's license renewal, my share from the sale would be huge," said the victim.
Dubai Criminal Court was told that the man agreed to pay Dh370,000 to fund the license renewal.
The complainant alerted police after the defendant stopped responding to his calls after pocketing his cash.
The defendant confessed to the fraud when quizzed by police, but said he took Dh120,000 from the man.
Police found copies of a fake license on his laptop, prosecutors said.
The man was charged with forgery, used of forged documents and fraudulently obtaining Dh120,000.
He was not present in court to enter a plea.
The case was adjourned until May 28 for a verdict to be issued.
