Woman jailed for swindling student’s vehicle

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

An evasive woman who conspired with her husband to swindle a female student’s vehicle has been handed a punishment following her arrest. The Arab woman and her husband –a compatriot salesman, 35, counterfeited documents including a dud cheque they used to purchase the vehicle from the Libyan student, 23, in March 2014.

During vehicle ownership transfer procedures, the husband posed as a general trading company employee. He gave the student a cheque worth Dhs32, 000 to be withdrawn from the company account.

The Criminal Court jailed him for two years plus deportation and sentenced the wife in absentia to the same. The husband appealed for mercy. The Appeals Court slashed the term to six months.

The wife was hauled into the Criminal Court in April this year. She denied. Her lawyer said the student waived the complaint. However, the court has added a Dhs150, 000 fine to the earlier ruling.

In prosecution records, the student posted an ad online indicating she wanted to sell her SUV for Dhs35, 000. The husband contacted her and expressed interest in it. They settled on Dhs32, 000.

They agreed to meet in Jumeirah. He showed up with the wife and examined it. They agreed to meet at a roads and transport authority’s licensing department for the ownership transfer.

He later contacted the student saying the wife had to attend because she had more experience in vehicle purchase procedures. He gave the dud cheque to the wife. She passed it to the student.

The student explained, “During procedures the wife talked to me relentlessly. I think she was distracting me. I failed to notice the name of the person (TH) to whom my vehicle was being transferred.”

The student signed the counterfeit document. The husband saluted her then he and his wife sat in the vehicle and sped off. The student went to cash the cheque. The bank told her the account was closed. The husband sold it to an unsuspecting Syrian trader TH. The student contacted the husband to explain to him that the cheque had bounced and the company phone he gave her was not working.

He denied having done any deal with her. TH told the police it was the fourth vehicle the husband had sold to him. He bought it at Dhs12, 000. Police advised TH to lure him with the prospect of another deal. An Omani policeman said they were zeroing in on TH’s vehicle showroom when the couple hurried outside. They surrounded the husband’s car. He fled. They seized him but the wife ran faster and disappeared.