Nine jailed and fined on assault and robbery charges in Dubai

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced five Africans in presence and four others in absentia to three years in jail to be followed by deportation and fined them Dhs4.02 million on charges of assaulting an Asian running a company for selling virtual currencies in Al Nakheel area in Dubai and stealing under duress Dhs4.12 million from him.

The case dated back to last April when an Asian owning a company for trading in virtual currencies in Al Nakheel area filed a complaint in which he stated that he had been assaulted in his company and robbed under duress.

The complainant stated that while he was in his company, he was surprised by an African knocking the door of his company and entering with eight others where they started assaulting him and another fellow man who happened to be in the company.

The complainant added that he tried to resist the defendants but they tied him and threatened him at knifepoint to give them the key to his safe. He gave them what they asked for so that they would stop assaulting him, he said, adding that they opened the safe and stole Dhs4.12 before they fled the place.

According to a policeman, a team of detectives gathered inferences and managed to identify the suspects and to arrest five of them with around Dhs100,000 and valuable items in their house.

On interrogation, the suspects confessed that a suspect who is still at large planned for robbing a company for trading in virtual currencies after making sure that the company owner had money in his possession.

While one of the suspects admitted that his role was to rent a car to be used in the robbery, another suspect admitted that his role was to monitor the company and make sure the owner was inside his company.

The other suspects admitted that they were assigned to rob the company owner in return for Dhs200,000 each, adding that they remitted part of the money to their home country and the rest was seized in their house.