Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an Arab to three months in jail and fined him Dha103,000 for swindling the same amount of the fine from a European man after he defrauded him with an advertisement for an apartment for rent on a dedicated website.

In March last year, a European man reported to the police that he had been defrauded and Dhs103,000 had been swindled from him.

The victim stated that he asked a real estate broker to search for an apartment for rent in the Business Bay area, adding that after several days, the broker told him that a person was offering an apartment with the required specifications for rent through a dedicated website.

The real estate broker said the defendant alleged alleged that he was a Gulf citizen and that the apartment offered for rent belonged to his brother, who owns a number of residential units and villas in different areas across Dubai, and that he was the person authorized to rent them. He agreed with the defendant to examine the apartment, he added.

The victim said he and the broker arrived at the building and met the defendant at the entrance to the building. The defendant took them to the apartment offered for rent and they agreed on the rent, he added.

He then handed Dhs3,000 over to the defendant as a down payment and waited for him to bring the lease contract and the key to the apartment, he said.

Several days later, however, the defendant told him that the lease contract was ready and consequently he handed Dhs100,000 over to him and received the apartment key and a lease contract signed in the name of the defendant, he added, noting that the defendant asked him to sign the contract.

He visited the apartment the next morning and tried to open its door but it seemed that its key had been changed, the victim said, adding that he contacted the defendant, who promised to send a worker to change the key in the following day.

The defendant, however, turned off his phone and consequently he checked with the Land Department where it was found that the contract was fake and the name and signature of the alleged apartment owner was different from those of the real owner, he said.

A policeman stated in the interrogations that he showed a photo of the defendant to the victim and the broker and they recognized him. The defendant was found to be an Arab, who had a criminal record.

After being arrested, the defendant denied in the interrogations that he committed the crime he was charged with, but all the gathered inferences showed that he was the perpetrator.