The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A clerk claimed he had foreign currencies worth Dhs45m tainted with a substance that required a cleaning chemical. He tried conning a Dubai Police officer out of Dhs12m.

The Arab defendant, 40, landed at the Dubai Criminal Court on Wednesday for having forged dollar and Euro bills as samples to prove he had the currencies, according to records at Al Muraqqabat Police Station.

Besides forgery, prosecutors accused him of trying to swindle Dhs12 million belonging to Dubai Police after meeting the officer and telling him he had the huge quantity of dollar and Euro bills for sale at Dhs12 million.

He claimed the dollars and Euros worth Dhs45 million simply required a cleaning chemical and it was up to the buyer to also cover expenses of purchasing the chemical. The officer lured him into an ambush on April 22.

He contended he was the wrong suspect in court. “A police source asked a man for samples (he mentioned the man’s name). Even an eyewitness told investigators that the man brought and handed them to the officer.

“I know nothing about the fake samples. I never even saw them at all,” he argued and added that his car was searched without a prosecution warrant. The jury deferred the hearing till Jul.24 to find him a defence lawyer.

On the record, the Emirati warrant officer said, “A police source alerted us the defendant was peddling fake banknotes and also conducting money-doubling activities. I contacted him with the help of the police source.

“I posed as a customer seeking to buy banknotes from him. We set an appointment to meet near a restaurant in Abu Hail at 9pm. I and the source called him to our car. He fetched the samples from his car and sat in ours.

“He handed us three $100 bills and one €500 bill. He also handed us a blackish $100 bill and a greenish €500 bill that appeared to be counterfeits. He told me both required a chemical solution to make them authentic.

“I told him I wanted to buy many of them. He told me he had bills worth Dhs45 million for sale at Dhs12 million. I accepted to buy and clean them. I asked him where they were. He promised to bring them in 15 minutes.”

The officer said he made a signal to the police team. The defendant refused to let them search his car. Following a prosecution order, they searched the car’s trunk and landed on a bag full of blackish and greenish bills.