A conman tricked an unwitting investor into spending tens of thousands of dirhams on a Dubai business that didn't exist, a court heard.
The Egyptian defendant, 36, forged a trade licence for a fictitious petrol company, attributing the bogus document to Dubai's department of economic development.
He then allegedly courted the Emirati backer, 49, by offering him a share of the proceeds of the sale of the company - as long as he stumped up the money required to renew the trading license.
“I saw a post of the license online associated with an advertisement stating that the petrol company needed financing to renew it’s license so it could be sold for a very high price,” said the complainant.
He said he contacted the defendant through the online advert, with the man telling him he was one of he owners of the company and was ready to sell.
"He told me that if I paid for the company's license renewal, my share from the sale would be huge," said the victim.
Dubai Criminal Court was told that the man agreed to pay Dh370,000 to fund the license renewal.
The complainant alerted police after the defendant stopped responding to his calls after pocketing his cash.
The defendant confessed to the fraud when quizzed by police, but said he took Dh120,000 from the man.
Police found copies of a fake license on his laptop, prosecutors said.
The man was charged with forgery, used of forged documents and fraudulently obtaining Dh120,000.
He was not present in court to enter a plea.
The case was adjourned until May 28 for a verdict to be issued.
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4. Pearl and finger millet
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Ukraine
Capital: Kiev
Population: 44.13 million
Armed conflict in Donbass
Russia-backed fighters control territory
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
SUE GRAY'S FINDINGS
"Whatever the initial intent, what took place at many of these gatherings and the
way in which they developed was not in line with Covid guidance at the time.
"Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen. It is also the case that some of the
more junior civil servants believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders.
"The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.
"I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.
"I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable."
Stan Lee
Director: David Gelb
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Why your domicile status is important
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