DUBAI // Two men murdered their sponsor by slitting his throat before stealing more than Dh200,000 from him, a court has heard.
On the night of December 11 last year, the victim, Farouq Zadah, was at his office with the Pakistani defendants M F, 25 and M A, 22.
Prosecutors said M A restrained the victim while M F killed him. They then stole three packets of cash – two containing dirhams and one containing dollars.
They fled to Sharjah to meet their compatriot M A A, 23, whom they asked to arrange for them to be smuggled out the country.
M A A later told prosecutors: “M F said he had killed his sponsor and that he and M A wanted to leave the country. So I arranged it with another man, M M, who requested Dh5,000 from each of them to help them get out of the country unnoticed.”
At 4.20am the next day, Afghani M B, 35, returned to his apartment, which was in the same building as the office, from a gathering with friends.
“I found [Zadah’s] body between the bed and the wall. I freaked out and called for help, then called police.”
M B said that when he had left the apartment, the victim was in the company of M F, adding that the two had had disputes in the past.
Investigations lead to the arrest of M A A at his Sharjah apartment, where police found Dh186,000 and US $14,000. He then helped police arrest M M.
While in custody, M A A received a call from M F who asked him for Dh20,000. The two alleged murderers were then arrested in a sting operation.
Prosecutors said M F confessed to a premeditated murder charge, saying the victim had insulted and assaulted him after he brought M A to his office to fix his computer.
“He claimed that it was the victim who had the blade and tried to attack him with it,” said police captain A S, 43.
The policeman said that M A had confessed that he had been injured in the fight, so he went to the bathroom to wash off the blood.
M A also said that M F did not mean to kill Zadah, but had accidentally cut his throat while trying to remove the blade from his hand.
“M A told me that the blade hit the man’s neck, he started bleeding and M F freaked out then ran away after taking the money,” the captain said.
At the Dubai Criminal Court yesterday, M F and M A denied premeditated murder charge and theft. M A A also denied he aided and abetted the defendants, as well as possessing stolen money charges. M M denied aiding and abetting.
The next hearing will be on May 19 to appoint lawyers for the defendants.
salamir@thenational.ae
