DUBAI // Four men who kidnapped gold traders then stole more than one million dirhams in various currencies from them each had their three-year sentence upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal.
Bangladeshis JN, 19, MY, 18, OA, 23, and 19-year-old YT kidnapped their compatriots, robbed them, then covered their faces and tied their hands before leaving them in a deserted area.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that on January 14, victims MR, 27, and MA, 29, arrived in Naif at 9pm carrying the cash for a meeting to buy 9kg of gold from a trader.
“A number of men came to us and said they were police officers,” said MR.
He said the men asked them for their identification, which they presented, but were then taken to a white car.
“They covered our faces and tied our hands then drove for about 50 minutes before they threw us out in a sandy area and drove off with the cash,” said MR.
After two hours, the two men managed to untie themselves and remove the masks to find they had been dumped in Mleiha, in Sharjah.
MR called his boss and informed him of what had happened and the boss headed to a police station.
On January 16, the gang were arrested.
During investigations, JN confessed to carrying out the crime after spending two days with the rest of the men watching the victims.
He said that the mastermind was a fifth man who remains unidentified in records. Investigations revealed that he had left the country on January 15 with his share of the stolen cash.
JN also said that, after the robbery, the defendants headed to Ajman, where he was given his Dh175,000 share of the total stolen amount, while MY took Dh100,000 and the other two took the remaining cash to split it with the mastermind.
The men were charged with kidnap and robbery, which they denied in court in April.
However, they were convicted and sentenced to three years each, to be followed by deportation. They appealed and lost.
salamir@thenational.ae
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
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Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
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Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
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- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
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Route 1: bank transfer
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Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
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Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
