Brothers jailed over Dh200k fraud



DUBAI // Two brothers defrauded a woman of Dh200,000 by claiming they were organising Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed's accession day celebrations.

AA, 29, and TA, 34, from Lebanon, were each sentenced to six months in jail by the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday after being convicted on seven counts of fraud.

A complaint was filed against the brothers in June 2009 by the owner of a property company duped by their offer of a sponsorship deal worth Dh300,000.

DM, 38, from Uzbekistan, said two men came to her office in 2008 claiming to represent the UAE Ministry of Defence. They said they were collecting sponsorship for the official celebration of the accession of Sheikh Hamdan as Crown Prince of Dubai.

The woman said she made a deal to have her company logo visible during the celebrations, and gave the men six cheques, worth Dh50,000 each.

On the day of the celebrations - February 1, 2008 - DM discovered that she had been duped and filed a police complaint. Four of the six cheques had been cashed.