Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
Criminal investigation agents at Sharjah Police arrested a gang of 8 Asians after they swindled a number of people by selling them gold liras, which were found later to be fake. The perpetrators used the same modus operandi to take large sums of money from their victims in two operations against which two reports were filed.
Brigadier Ibrahim Musabeh Al Ajil, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Sharjah Police, praised the efficiency of the department’s staff and their readiness to deal with all types of incoming reports as accurately and speedily as required as evidenced by their ability to arrest the gang members despite the lack of any concrete evidence on their identity.
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Sharjah Police received two reports on a gang using the same modus operandi to swindle victims. In the first reports, a Gulf national was swindled by 3 Asians in a Sharjah industrial area after they offered him a gold lira, Al Ajil said. After he had showed the gold lira to gold jewellers, who confirmed to him that the gold was genuine, the victim agreed with the gang members to buy a collection of the gold lira. At the agreed place, the perpetrators handed a black bag containing the previously agreed on gold pieces over to the victim and ran away after receiving the amount, he added.
The victim, however, discovered later that the gold pieces were fake, he said.
Following intensive investigations, the CID agents were able to identify one of the perpetrators and arrest him in a residential area. After searching the vehicle the perpetrator was driving, the CID agents found two boxes containing fake gold pieces and pieces of another metal.
On interrogation, the perpetrator confessed that the pieces belonged to him and another group of his partners, who used to offer them for sale after giving the buyers the impression they were genuine. The other perpetrators were later arrested and confessed to the swindle charge.
Further investigations showed that the perpetrators had been involved in another case. They were referred to the Sharjah Public Prosecution.
Al Ajil warned the public over falling victim to swindlers, who delude them for illicit gains, calling on members of the society to sell and buy precious metals in the outlets approved by the official authorities. Sharjah Police would spare no effort to maintain the security and safety of the society and are able to pursue criminals and detect their scams, no matter how careful they are, he said.