Man sells friend's Mercedes using fake documents, Dubai court hears

The man sold the car while his friend was attending military training for eight months

An Emirati military officer who allowed his friend to borrow his Mercedes S500 while he underwent military training, returned to find his car was sold using fake documents, Dubai Criminal Court was told on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old alleged victim told prosecutors that in January last year, he lent the car to his friend, who is also Emirati, before taking part in eight months of military training and when he returned in September the same year, he discovered his car had been sold.
"It's a 2015 Mercedes S500 which I bought for Dh700,000, my friend sold it to a showroom which sold it to a customer," said the officer, who reported the matter to police.
A Syrian trader, 41, said the Emirati defendant visited his car showroom in Bur Dubai and offered the vehicle for sale.

"I paid him Dh430,000 but only after he provided me with an ownership document stating that the ownership of the car was moved from its owner's name to his name," said the trader.
The car was then resold.
Investigations revealed that the friend, 33, asked two men, an Iranian and a man from the Comoros Islands, to forge an ownership document.
The Emirati defendant was charged with embezzling the car and aiding and abetting his two accomplices to commit forgery and with use of forged documents. He denied both charges in court.
The other two defendants denied charges of forgery, use of forged documents and aiding and abetting the Emirati accused to embezzle the car.
Each of the defendants denied knowing the other in court on Tuesday.
The next hearing is scheduled for January 16.