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Bogus owners 'rent out' flat, dupe tenant of Dh59,500 in Dubai

Dubai - The two accused were charged with forgery and fraud in the Court of First Instance

Two Pakistani men, including a runaway, allegedly defrauded a tenant of Dh59,500 after one of them claimed to be the owner of a flat in Dubai.
The clerk, 30, and the runaway, 28, forged a title deed of the unit, which they claimed was issued by the Dubai Land Department. They falsified the details of the copy of that document and put the name of one of them in as the owner.
The victim paid them the rent money in two cheques on March 19, 2016, after he was shown the title deed - which he discovered later to be forged.
The two accused were charged with forgery and fraud in the Court of First Instance.
The complainant, a 30-year-old from Bosnia-Herzegovina, said he called the runaway suspect after he read an ad online about a flat for rent in Silicon Oasis. "I met him in February 2016 and he told me he would reduce the rent to Dh50,000 if I paid him in one cheque.
"I met him again on March 3, 2016, and gave him two cheques worth Dh4,000 and Dh55,500. We exchanged the necessary documents. He gave me copies of the first defendant's passport, ID copy and the title deed copy, and handed me the tenancy contract and the flat's keys two days later."
On March 19, 2016, he moved to the flat. "One month later, I began to have some doubts since I did not receive any bills from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). I checked online and saw that the flat was not rented under my name. After checking with the Dubai Land Department, I found that the document used by the runaway was forged."
The complainant had to re-sign a legal tenancy contract with the real owner.
The first accused, who is a clerk, admitted during public prosecution investigation that he signed the tenancy contract the complainant was given.
mary@khaleejtimes.com