Duo jailed for duping trader of Dh6.9m in bogus car deal in Dubai

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Duo jailed for duping trader of Dh6.9m in bogus car deal in Dubai

Dubai - They are accused of forging a power of attorney and swindling the Saudi investor of Dh6.9m in a 50-car sale deal.

by

Marie Nammour

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Published: Tue 23 Jan 2018, 7:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 23 Jan 2018, 9:08 PM

Two men, who duped a Saudi trader of Saudi Riyals (SR) 7,125,000 (Dh6.9 million) in a bogus 50-car sale deal, were each sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday.
The Court of First Instance found the Syrian businessman and the Jordanian mechanic guilty of charges of fraud and forgery and sentenced them to be deported after ending their jail terms.
The forged papers they used in the scam were ordered confiscated by the court.
They are accused of forging a power of attorney and swindling the Saudi investor of SR7.1million in a 50-car sale deal.
The Syrian also forged a cheque by issuing and signing it without authorization. He also used a counterfeit contract and payment receipts.
The case dates back to July 2015 and a complaint was registered at Al Muraqqabat police station.
"I was in Riyadh on July 19, 2015, when my friend called to inform me about a large number of cars up for sale at competitive prices in Dubai (less than the market value)," the 36-year-old investor said.
"My friend then travelled to Dubai and went to check out the cars in an auto showroom in Al Aweer. He met the accused Syrian who claimed he was the owner of many cars there. When I asked him the reason the cars were being sold for low prices, he told me they belonged to Yemeni traders who had to sell them in Dubai," the investor said.
"The cars were checked and found mechanically fit. My friend urged me to come to Dubai as soon as possible with Dh11.7million to purchase about 77 cars."
When the investor came to Dubai on July 23, 2015, with his friend (the witness), he met the Syrian and they were taken to check 10 cars randomly.
"The main accused claimed he was not authorized to sign the sale contract and took us in his very expensive car to a company office in Al Muraqqabat where his accomplice met us and typed a contract. I handed him SR972,000. He urged me to pay the remaining amount at the earliest. On my next visit, I paid him SR2.1million," the complainant said.
They kept dilly-dallying when he asked for the custom papers of the cars. When he tried to call the police, they showed him seven papers pertaining each to three cars.
He was later duped to pay SR900,000 and also SR3.1million on two occasions.
They claimed they would give him the customs clearance documents in 4 days, which did not happen.
It was then that a complaint was lodged and the Syrian was arrested. A cheque the accused had issued was rejected by the bank.
mary@khaleejtimes.com


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