Cleaner, clerk punished for rental fraud

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Dubai: Two tricksters who rented out someone’s apartment to an engineer have failed to convince the Dubai Appeals Court to overturn their prison term and Dhs150,000 fine.

The Asian cleaner, 28, and a compatriot clerk, 35, committed forgery on the copy of a rental contract for an apartment belonging to an elderly Emirati man. They forged his signature on it, prosecutors revealed on Jan.7. They posted an ad on a classifieds website and trapped the Jordanian engineer, 33. The clerk posed as a business services office employee tasked by the Emirati man to rent out the

property. The engineer agreed to rent it.

They presented the counterfeit contract to him along with a receipt attributed to the office. He paid them Dhs7, 000 and three cheques worth Dhs54, 000 then went to a real estate authority and got it registered in his name.

In this case, both also counterfeited a rent contract registration certificate with the help of unsuspecting land department employees. The court caged them for three months plus deportation and a Dhs150, 000 joint fine.

They denied and sought to challenge the ruling at the Appeals Court. The cleaner asked the jury to clear him. The clerk claimed that someone identified as Y was the one who committed the forgeries. "He handed me the documents.

“I received Dhs7, 000 from the complainant and delivered it to him. I received no cheques from the complainant." He presented a defence memo and asked for mercy. However, the Dubai Appeals Court rejected their pleas.

On the record, the engineer said that in 2017 he wanted to expand his mother’s computer solutions company business. He searched the website for an office to rent. He saw one in Frij Murar. He contacted the number and agreed with the recipient to meet at a mall in Deira. The clerk came, identified himself with a false name and claimed he was the owner’s representative. He pulled out his mobile and showed the engineer photos of the apartment. He asked for Dhs7, 000 down payment and asked for the other sum by cheque. During another meeting at a shopping centre in 2018, the clerk showed the engineer documents that included the elderly Emirati man’s passport copy. The engineer handed him cheques. The engineer later received a call from the police about the scam. Policemen lured the clerk into an ambush by convincing him they liked his services and also wanted to rent an office from him.

He revealed his role was to correspond with victims and collect money from them. The cleaner was the one posting ads and photos online.