DUBAI // Two men who conned another out of Dh17 million and threatened to kill an entire family if they were not paid Dh1m have each been sentenced to three months in jail.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that the defendants Emirati O A, 33, and Pakistani B K, 36, met their 40-year-old Pakistani accuser A J, in 2012.
“An old friend with whom I had conducted some business and made good profits, introduced me to them,” the victim said.
He said that his friend, who was identified in records as Jamsheed, convinced him that the two men would help him to open up his own financial bidding company and, in return, they would be partners.
“We agreed that I [would] provide Dh17m as capital for the company, and I collected it from a number of businessmen in Pakistan,” the victim said.
The man was promised that 50 per cent of the profit would be divided between the four men involved and the other half would be given to the contributing businessmen in Pakistan.
Only Dh2m from the total amount was his, said A J, while the rest was from the Pakistani businessmen.
When he returned to the UAE after wiring the money from Pakistan, he said he was informed that two companies, one in Dubai and another in Ajman, had been set up by the defendants.
“They told me they were working in petrol and copper but one client had conned them and stole Dh7m from them,” A J said.
When in 2013 he started seeking profits from Jamsheed and the pair, he said Jamsheed filed a false police report in which he was accused of physical assault.
“After this incident, the three started scaring me, saying that the Pakistani businessmen who contributed Dh15m to start the companies had filed several complaints against me and that Pakistani intelligence was looking for me.
“Then they asked me to pay them Dh400,000 to help me settle these complaints,” said A J, who claimed that the amount was then raised to Dh1m.
In April last year, he said the two defendants introduced him to two men who identified themselves as high-ranking officers with the US and UK governments. They said A J and his family would be killed if he did not pay the defendants.
Police were then notified.
A J said he had not seen the Dh17m since he transferred the amounts. Both accused in court denied issuing threats to kill, but were found guilty. Pakistani B K will be deported after serving his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
