Unemployed man bilks Dhs110,000 in flat scam in Dubai

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

An unemployed man ripped Dhs110, 250 after renting out someone else’s apartment inside a tower in Dubai Marina, the Criminal Court heard on Monday.

The Arab defendant, 35, committed forgery on the copy of an apartment ownership certificate attributed to a land department. He omitted data on the copy, replaced it with false one and printed a fake document.

He presented it to the Tunisian photographer, 55, as proof that the apartment belonged to him. He fixed a signature on a rent contract and handed it to the photographer, Al Barsha Police Station records showed.

As part of the fraudulent scheme, he first posted an ad on a classifieds website claiming he was the apartment’s owner looking for a tenant. He invited the photographer to examine it. The latter got convinced it was his.

The photographer narrated that he was surfing the internet when he came across an ad on a classifieds website stating that the apartment in Dubai Marina was up for rent. He contacted the provided phone number.

A recipient replied and told him the apartment belonged to his manager. They negotiated the price and reached an agreement after which the photographer went to the apartment, examined it and confirmed it was empty.

Thereafter, the defendant contacted him posing as the apartment’s owner. They set an appointment to meet at a hotel in Tecom area. There, the defendant presented him the supposed ownership certificate.

“I believed it was original since it was coloured. It bore the defendant’s name as the apartment’s owner. He also presented me a copy of his passport. We signed the contract. I gave him two cheques worth Dhs110, 250.

“He told me he would first do some maintenance then hand me the keys. He later declined to answer my calls. I went to the apartment and learnt it belonged to another person. The certificate I had was fake.” Case continues on Oct.31.