Two jailed, fined $1,500 for selling counterfeit phones in Dubai

Dubai Misdemeanours court has sentenced two Asians to one month in jail to be followed by deportation from the country after serving their sentence, and fined them jointly the equivalent of $1,500 in UAE Dirhams.

The suspects were convicted of seizing the value of the fine from a European national after defrauding him by selling him two counterfeit phones.

The details of the case date back to September 2024, when a European visitor filed a complaint stating that he had been defrauded and $1,500 were seized from him, indicating that he had arrived in the country on a tourist visa. He added while he was walking on Sheikh Zayed Road, the two suspects stopped him and offered him two phones at a price lower than in the market.

After he reportedly examined the two phones and made sure that they were working well and were not counterfeit, he paid the amount and received the two phones but he suspected that one of the suspects had exchanged the two phones while putting them in the box.

When he examined the phones, he discovered that he had been defrauded, then he ran after the suspects and caught one of them with the help of a passer-by, then informed the police.

A policeman stated that after the arrest of the first suspect, he identified the second who was arrested minutes after the incident.

During the interrogations, the two confessed to defrauding the complainant and seizing $1,500 from him, the value of the two phones.

The policeman added that the two defendants were accustomed to selling counterfeit phones after deceiving passers-by in several areas, pointing out that they initially offered original phones, and after receiving the price, they used to exchange them while putting them in the box.