DUBAI // A Cameroonian man stole Dh300,000 (US$82,000) from a Kuwaiti businessman and his Saudi friend when a gold deal turned sour, a court heard yesterday.
According to the charge sheet, the defendant, identified as EM, had been one of a group trying to sell 10kg of gold to the victims in a Deira hotel on February 17, but after they cooled on the idea he and two accomplices assaulted them, took some of their money and fled.
Appearing at Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance, EM, aged 38, denied the charges.
The Kuwaiti businessman, MT, 33, told prosecutors that on one of his visits to Dubai he had been in the Deira City Centre mall, where he met an African called Adam, who claimed he was a Congolese diplomat.
"The man was speaking fluent Arabic and he invited me for a coffee. He told me about his gold business and how he made business with Kuwait and Dubai," MT said.
After that, Adam had telephoned him repeatedly, and they had settled on a deal to buy 10kg of gold for Dh500,000.
On February 16, MT and his English-speaking Saudi friend SB, met the gold dealers at the Avari Hotel in Deira, where it turned out that the bullion was, apparently, still in Congo.
"We agreed for the gold to be deposited at a bank there and then it will be sent to Dubai," SB told the court. However, the victims said the men repeatedly demanded to see the money, arousing their suspicions.
"We showed them the money and then asked them to leave, as we felt something was wrong," MT said.
The next day the Africans called back to say they still wanted to go ahead with the deal and then came up to the room.
"They assaulted my friend and choked him," said the Kuwaiti. "I jumped on the defendant and tackled him."
However, EM and his accomplices had escaped, taking with them about Dh300,000.
The presiding judge, Hamad Abdel Latif, adjourned the trial until September 28 to hear evidence from witnesses.
amustafa@thenational.ae
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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