Dubai man jailed over Dh1 million robbery

Dubai: A man was sentenced to a year in jail to be followed by deportation for robbing Dh1 million from a Dubai merchant in a fake business deal. The Dubai Court of First Instance ordered the Bahraini defendant to pay Dh1 million fine.

A 38-year-old Iranian merchant testified that he was contacted by the 40-year-old Bahraini defendant for a business deal and he agreed to give the Bahraini man Dh1 million in cash and another $511,000 (Dh1.87 million) through a wire transfer.

In June this year, he went to Deira with his friend, carrying the cash in a bag based on the defendant’s request when an African man came to apparently guide him to the defendant’s office. “We were inside the car waiting when the African man came. He was wearing a security guard’s uniform and asked us to follow him to the defendant’s office. He asked me if I had the money in the bag before snatching it from me and escaped,” said the Iranian merchant on record.

The victim then alerted Dubai Police, who arrested the defendant in less than 24 hours and recovered the cash.

An Emirati policeman testified that after an intensive investigation, the defendant was arrested along with a 39-year-old second defendant from Mauritania inside a Dubai hotel.

“The defendant admitted to the robbery and that he had planned it along with another person in Turkey. He was with two African men during the robbery, who were waiting in a car nearby. One of them snatched the bag,” the 24-year-old Emirati policeman said, according to records. A sum of Dh459,000 was found with the second defendant, who claimed that he was told by another person to collect the money from the Bahraini defendant.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the Bahraini defendant with robbery. The other suspects are still at large. The second defendant from Mauritania was charged with possessing the money and court ordered to refer him to the Misdemeanour Court.