Two get jail terms over real estate fraud

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced two out of 11 defendants to 10 years in jail for one of them and 7 years to the other to be followed by deportation on charges of fraud and stealing Dhs27 million.

The victim, a woman, testified in 2016 she bought two plots of land and authorised her son to sell them.

But, when the son found a buyer, he discovered that his mother’s lands had already been sold. He notified the police.  A prosecution witness said he received a letter requesting investigation into a no-objection certificate issued by a real estate company in the UAE, which was used for selling the two plots in Palm Jumeirah.  When the original transaction was reviewed the two certificates were found to be ostensibly authentic but the company confirmed that the signature was false.

The company then conducted an internal investigation with all parties concerned. The registrar admitted that the owner signed the two certificates in front of him but the victim’s business manager presented a document which proved he had not entered the UAE in the past 14 years.

The victim then filed a complaint with the police.

Another prosecution witness stated  he received an offer from a British manager of a real estate company for buying the two plots of land for Dhs27 million. Following several meetings, he agreed to the offer and they both met in the office to finalise the deal in the presence of his business manager.

The seller, however, could not come, claiming that she was sick and waited in her car in the parking lot of the real estate office. She was wearing a veil when she signed the deal and left. Cheques for the total amount were delivered but the owner’s name was not changed because the deal was concluded through a fraudster.