Man loses Dhs3.75 million in a fake Bitcoin transaction

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an Asian and a GCC national to three years in jail, and fined them jointly Dhs3,750,000.

The court also ordered the deportation of the Asian after serving his jail term. The suspects were charged with conniving with other fugitives, to seize Dhs3 million and a precious watch, valued at Dhs750,000 from an Asian businessman.

They allegedly lured the victim with a fake Bitcoin deal and detained him in a villa rented by one of them to carry out the crime.

Details of the case date back to July 2021, when a businessman filed a report stating that he had been duped and Dhs3 million and precious watch had been stolen from him.

According to the victim’s statement in the interrogations, he testified that he found a card attached to his vehicle promoting the sale of the digital currency Bitcoin at a cheaper price than its current price, so he reportedly contacted with the number written on the card, where it was agreed to buy the digital currency in the Al Barsha area.

The victim added that instantly on reaching the location specified by the digital currency seller, the latter asked him to enter a villa to complete the deal via a Bitcoin trading app after receiving the money in cash.

He added that he was surprised with three other persons wearing protective clothing from the Corona virus, who claimed that they were from the police of his home country and that he was under arrest.

They reportedly told him he would be deported to his home country and then they handcuffed his hands and put a mask on his eyes, while the gangsters took a bag containing Dhs3 million.

They then took him to the vehicle of one of them where he was taken to the Emirate of Fujairah. There he was held in the vehicle for four hours and later, he was transferred to another vehicle driven by a GCC man who asked him for Dhs500,000 to return him to Dubai.  The victim reportedly agreed to give him the amount, but the GCC man saw a precious watch in his possession, so he seized it after dropping him in Dubai.

A policeman said in the interrogations that a team of investigators at the Dubai Police collected evidences and inferences and identified two suspects, one of whom was the GCC suspect and the other was the Asian.  They were arrested and they confessed that they connived with others to  lure the businessman to steal his money.

The GCC suspect also confessed that he met the Asian a month before the incident, when the latter asked him to fabricate a drug case for the victim in exchange for Dhs60,000.

He added on the day of the incident, the Asian came with the victim to the Emirate of Fujairah, and the victim was handcuffed inside the vehicle and asked him to imprison him for drug trafficking.