Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Misdemeanor sentenced an African to one year in jail to be followed by deportation and fined him Dhs314,000 in a fraud case. The defendant, in collaboration with others who are still at large, stole Dhs314,000 from a used mobile phone dealer with a fake deal to buy 90 mobile phones.

The incident took place in Al Muraqqabat and dated back to last January when an Asian dealer fined a complaint in which he stated that an African gang had robbed Dhs314,000 from him. According to the complainant’s statement, he communicated with a man offering used mobile phones for sale and agreed to meet him in a hotel in Deira to talk about the price, quantity and delivery of the mobile phones.

The complainant stated in the interrogations that the suspect and others came to the place and he agreed with them to buy 90 iPhones for Dhs314,000.

At the right time and place, the suspect and another came on foot to a street in Al Muraqqabat, while he was waiting inside a vehicle, the victim said, adding that the suspect offered a number of mobile phones inside a small bag and told him that the remaining mobile phones were in a vehicle several metres away.

The suspect then requested the victim to show him the money and the latter opened a briefcase containing Dhs314,000, this being the price of 90 iPhones. The suspect and another, however, snatched the money and fled away inside a vehicle that was waiting for them nearby.

According to the official documents, a team of detectives managed to identify the suspect and to arrest him inside a hotel he was staying in. After searching his residence, the team seized part of the money, which he admitted that it was part of the stolen money, and other fake sums of money.