Man impersonates royal in realty scam

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A fraudster who posed as a prince and used a counterfeit Dubai Courts document to swindle cash from a female investor has been referred to court.

The unemployed African defendant, 43, wore GCC attire –a cloak, ghutra, dishdasha and headband. He identified himself with a false name, gained her confidence and conned her out of EUR18,900 (worth Dhs78,000).

He teamed up with an unidentified fugitive accomplice to duplicate the stamp of a government body (a Dubai Courts stamp) with the aim of using it in the scam, prosecutors explained to the Dubai Criminal Court.

They used it to forge a receipt attributed to the Dubai Courts. They also fixed it on a counterfeit property purchase agreement to show that it was attested by the Dubai Courts. He presented the bogus documents to her.

Prosecutors have demanded the court to hand him a tough punishment.The defendant denies the charges and contends he has nothing to do with the case. The court has adjourned the hearing till May 12 for his defence.  On the record, an Emirati sergeant said the victim showed up at Al Barsha Police Station and complained that the defendant swindled her money. She said he had told her he managed a company. He summoned her for a property deal.

They met inside a Dubai hotel room and she paid him EUR18,900. They later met at a brokering company to finalise the deal. He asked her to pay $180,000. She hesitated and later refused to pay after discovering he gave her fake documents.

Police arrested him and seized him with a mobile phone he was using to keep in touch with her. He confessed and said he with the help of his countryman swindled her money and that he posed as a royal and handed her bogus documents.

“Investigations showed it was not the first time the defendant swindled money from people,” explained the sergeant. “He had earlier tried to con an American family using the same method.”

Recently, the Sharjah Criminal Court adjourned to April 23, to summon the victim, in the case of four Asians charged with kidnapping and assaulting a person and stealing Dhs2,850 after impersonating policemen. Details date back to earlier when four Asians impersonated policemen and kidnapped a person and stole Dhs2,850 from him.

The victim contacted the police and guided them to the suspects’ descriptions, who were arrested and referred to the prosecution to complete the legal proceedings against them.