Two on-duty policemen stopped a Porsche Cayenne and stole the driver’s phone and Dh3,000 in cash in a premeditated theft, prosecutors allege.
They told Dubai Criminal Court that the officers - a 23-year-old from Sudan and an Emirati, 31 - plotted to steal from the driver with another man, a translator.
“The 33-year-old Sudanese translator was a friend of the victim and of the officers. He plotted with the policemen to steal from the man,” prosecutors said.
The translator, who speaks Mandarin well, met the Chinese driver at a nightclub in Jumeirah on August 10 last year.
“He pretended he was an Emirati and we spoke for a while,” said the 31-year-old Porsche driver, a manager at a private company.
He added that later the pair headed to a hotel and, on the way, they were stopped by a police patrol on Sheikh Zayed Road.
“Two officers approached me and asked for my licence, then one of them snatched my phone and the other took me to the patrol car. Then my friend asked me for Dh27,000 to solve the problem. I told him I didn’t have that amount,” said the manager.
The officers told him he could be jailed for three months as they drove around in the patrol car for about 10 minutes before stopping and heading to speak to the translator, who was following them in the Porsche.
“I didn’t know what they said but then my friend asked me to hand in whatever cash I had, so I gave him Dh3,000,” the Chinese man said.
The translator then allegedly took him aside and asked for Dh17,000, which he said he would use to solve the problem with the police but he said he did not have that amount of money.
“He asked me for a family member’s number who he can negotiate with regarding the amount, then drove me to International City, where we waited for my brother to arrive. He searched me and took my ATM [card] then I fled,” said the Chinese man.
The next morning, he headed to Bur Dubai police station and reported the incident.
The police officers were charged with theft and apprehending a man illegally. Only one of them was present in court on Sunday and he denied the charges.
The translator denied a charge of aiding and abetting.
The next hearing will be on August 6.
