Dubai social media star Money Kicks escapes kidnapping attempt in London

Rashed Belhasa — a young Emirati with over two million followers on Instagram — recounts scary experience in YouTube post

Mazhar Farooqui

Published: Tue 11 Oct 2022, 2:27 PM

Last updated: Tue 11 Oct 2022, 2:32 PM

Dubai-based social media sensation Rashed Belhasa aka Money Kicks has narrowly escaped from being kidnapped by masked men during a visit to London.

In a recent YouTube post, the young Emirati with over 2 million followers on Instagram described how his trip almost turned into horror.

Advertising

The 20-year-old said, “Everything was good for the first two days” until they got a call saying, “Rashed has $2 million on his head as ransom.”

Belhasa, who was accompanied by his crew and security, said he was exercising extreme caution during their promotional tour until he made the mistake of sharing his location on social media.

“One day I went to a restaurant, and posted a picture of a bakhwala,” he recalled. Belhasa said he had been urging his crew not to share their location but himself made the mistake.

Belhasa said he instantly realised the men had come for him. “Everybody said they were fans, but my security followed them. They had two cars and they wanted to block me “

Belhasa's team put him in a van while his friend blocked one of the cars driven by the masked men with his SUV allowing him to escape.

The social media sensation said he posted the video to raise awareness among Middle Eastern people visiting London.

“Be careful, be smart. London is such a beautiful place and I love it.. but people are hungry there. Don’t post on social media where you are. I made a mistake and if I didn’t have a good team, they would have gotten me.”

Belhasa said he never encountered any such thing in Dubai, thanks to the leadership of the country.

“It is such a blessing living in this country. When I came back, I wanted to kiss the floor.”

mazhar@khaleejtimes.com