Conman blackmailed partner after she refused to give him cash, court hears

Man allegedly tricked woman into giving him thousands of dirhams after convincing her he would marry her

A conman promised to marry his unsuspecting partner as part of an elaborate plot to cheat her out of tens of thousands of dirhams, a court heard.

The Jordanian man's web of deceit allegedly included posing as an aviation engineer and producing fake bank accounts to convince her of his wealth.

The 29-year-old defendant is said to have wooed the woman with gifts and asked for her father's phone number so he could ask for his permission to wed her.

The woman, also 29 and from Jordan, met the man in September of last year, just months after moving to the emirate.

“He told me he was an aviation engineer working for Emirates Airline, and then asked me for my father’s phone number because he wanted to marry me,” she said.

But she said their romance took a dark turn when he told her he had been involved in a road accident with a pedestrian in Saudi Arabia and asked for cash to compensate the victim as he did not have access to his bank account.

“I borrowed Dh14,000 from my father and sent it to him,” said the woman.

Dubai Criminal Court was told she later wired him another D6,000 after he claimed his passport had been seized by Saudi authorities.

“I thought he would marry me,” said the victim, who had to sell her car in order to send him more cash.

When the woman finally stopped ending him money, he allegedly threatened to share intimate pictures of her which he had obtained from her phone.

“He called and threatened to ruin my reputation so I told my father, who advised me to go to police,” she said.

She reported the matter to police on January 2, with the defendant arrested soon after.

The defendant was charged with issuing threats and illegally obtaining money from the woman.

He did not show up at court on Wednesday to enter pleas.

The case was adjourned until September 25 in order for him to be brought to court.