Dubai: Man jailed for scamming woman out of Dh202,000

A 43-year-old expat scammed a woman of Dh202,000 by asking her to invest in a fake project.

Dubai Misdemeanours Court convicted him and sentenced the man to three months in prison, asked him to return the amount he seized and referred the case to a civil court.

The convict visited a bank to obtain a vehicle loan for his wife, and met the woman there. She was the employee responsible to help him receive the loan.

The man then asked her to be a partner in a food trading project. The victim refused the offer as she said she did not have sufficient funds to invest.

Three months later, the convicted returned and asked her to invest in another project of his. He presented a profitable plan in the industry of used vehicles. The plan constituted of importing second-hand vehicles and repairing them at a workshop that he planned to establish.

He even arranged a phone call with the victim and dealers from outside the country to discuss the plan. They discussed how the vehicles would be sourced and their final resale value after repair.

The woman said that the convicted claimed to be a customs inspector. She added that he promised to clear the vehicles quickly on import.

The woman, convinced by the affair, handed the amount to the convicted after she was told that the profits would be split among them both.

Months later, he gave her Dh5,000, switched off his phone and disappeared. She then realised she had fallen victim to a fraud and informed the police.

The police formed an investigation team that nabbed the man. He then attempted to justify the deposits in his account by saying that he had lent her some money earlier, which she is returning.