Fake police officers steal over Dhs642,000

DUBAI: A 27-year-old GCC man was arrested and referred to the criminal court, along with his other accomplices, who are currently absconding, for impersonating as undercover police officers and robbing a group of men of over Dhs642,000 in cash and other items.

Official records reveal the victim worked with a company which entrusted him with Dhs551,200 to be deposited in another company’s account a day before the incident.

The victim was late in depositing the amount and had to return to his sharing apartment with it. He hid the money in a safe under his bed.

At night, when the victim was having dinner with his roommates, the defendant and his accomplices barged into the apartment and showed a fake badge, claiming they were undercover police officers who had come to arrest the victim and his roommates on drug charges.

When the victim denied possessing drugs, the defendant and his gang searched the place. When nothing was found, the defendant then asked if there was money in the apartment.

The scared victim led him to the hidden safe, explaining it belonged to the company he worked in and showed the receipt for it. The victim also showed an amount of Dhs91,100 that belonged to him.

The victim requested to be accompanied to the police station in order to confirm his story, and accordingly, the defendant seized the total amount of Dhs642,300, as well as a laptop and phones of all the roommates.

As soon as they let the building, the defendant cunningly asked the whereabouts of the police patrol, and his accomplices claimed it wasn’t available at the moment.

The defendants then called for a taxi to take the victim to the police station, and this is when he got suspicious and began to doubt their whole story.

When the taxi was about to move out of the area, the victim realised he was tricked and furiously screamed “you’re not police officers.. I will call the police.”

They all got out of the taxi and a physical fight occurred between the victim and the defendants. The victim was able to catch the first defendant, while the other accomplices fled the scene.

Police arrested the impersonator and referred him to the criminal court, where he is now facing robbery, police officer impersonation and assault charges.