Two men who conned a 35-year-old Saudi investor out of Dh7m in a bogus cars purchase deal were convicted by the Dubai Criminal Court.
A Syrian businessman, 37, and a Jordanian mechanic, 43, were convicted of forging documents, using the forged document and defrauding the Saudi investor out of the money in 2015.
The Syrian was sentenced to two years in jail while his accomplice was handed a five-year prison term.
The businessman’s Emirati associate, who owned a company dealing in cars, travelled abroad and issued a Special Power of Attorney letter dated May 7, 2015 tasking a man to run the company in his absence.
The Syrian defendant found the letter’s copy then he and the mechanic counterfeited it by replacing the manager’s name with the businessman’s name, court records show.
They deceived the investor into paying for 50 cars of different types. They showed him pertaining customs papers and took him to examine the cars at an Aweer showroom and a packed Dubai Customs yard.
The businessman forged a Dh3m cheque, a sale contract and payment receipts and handed them to the investor in the presence of the mechanic.
“I own a trade firm in Riyadh and heard from a close friend that there were cars for sale in Dubai, belonging to Yemeni traders who were selling them at competitive prices so they could finish them up within three days. I sent my friend [a Saudi trader] to Dubai to examine the cars,” said the victim in records.
The mechanic picked up the friend from the airport and took him to a Range Rover showroom Al Aweer and claimed that he owned the showroom.
After checking the cars, the friend called the investor in KSA and asked him to come to Dubai carrying Dh11,165,000 for 77 cars.
The investor arrived with about Dh1m. He was met by the mechanic who took him to the businessman’s luxurious office in Al Muraqqabat. The businessman claimed he was planning to sell 405 cars for about Dh55m.
The investor paid Dh1m as first installment and wired the remaining Dh6m in several money transfers after his return to KSA. The businessman gave the victim a Dh3m cheque as a guarantee, which turned out to be altered as per records.
The two promised the investor to provide him with customs documents within a week but never did, and soon after started stalling and failing to answer the victim’s calls.
He then called police and reported the incident.
In court last April, the pair denied all of the charges. However they were both convicted and will be deported after serving their terms.
