Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling issued by Criminal Court of sentencing an African duo to a year in jail and a Dhs150,000 fine for committing forgery in Dubai.

The duo will be deported after serving their jail term.

The incident dates back to January last year, when the two defendants worked with other accomplices to forge official documents and seize a vehicle to export it abroad.

The victim, an Arab salesman working at a car showroom, filed a police report against the main defendant, who was later arrested and sentenced to 1 year jail-term and a Dhs220,000 fine.

Official records indicate that the main runaway defendant was a regular customer of the showroom, and had asked to take the stolen vehicle for a test-drive but never returned it.

Based on the trust put in the regular customer, the salesman handed him the car keys without any hesitation, and when he failed to show up, the salesman repeatedly called him but the defendant kept on delaying the return the vehicle.

The defendant claimed that he was adding vehicle accessories to the stolen car and then he will return to pay its value.

Four hours later, the defendant switched off his phone.

Police were alerted about the incident, and tracked the vehicle to find that it had been moved to another Emirate under forged plate numbers.

Police investigation revealed that the second and third defendants had helped him to forge documents to transport the vehicle to another Arab country.