How fraudsters made Dh800M from car sales scam business

abu dhabi — A police witness in the trial of 54 people accused of scamming Dh800 million from thousands of people in fake car deals has given his testimony to the Abu Dhabi Misdemeanour Court on Tuesday.

The witness said the first defendant made his colleagues join the portfolio without informing them that the business was not a licensed one. The witness, who is a police investigation officer, also told the Court that the Emirati defendant was taking 10 per cent of the total proceeds from the fraudulent car sales.

The Emirati man and 53 others, most of them UAE nationals, are accused of defrauding thousands of people of millions of dirhams. The three main perpetrators and an agent are currently in police custody, while the remaining defendants were given bail. All the men had denied the charges of fraud and money laundering when they first appeared in court.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the police officer who was also part of the investigation team, told the court that they began investigating the matter after reports of several people luring scores into investing money in the car business. They had promising them profits of between 70 to 80 per cent within a period of six months to one year.

“The first defendant was using several people to promote a fake portfolio on various social media sites and had lured hundreds into the car business,” the policeman told the court. He said the police team began investigating the businesses owned by the main defendant in September 2016. “Our investigations showed that the Emirati and his gang lured customers to buy cars from them and later they would encourage them to sell the cars back through them at a higher price, by offering them big profits,” said the officer.

The officer also stated that many of the defendants did not know the portfolio started by the Emirati man was a fake one and that they were defrauding investors. “I am sure the main defendant had not disclosed it to the majority of the investors that the business was not a licensed one.” Another police witness said the first defendant transferred Dh22 million from the sale of cars to a Dubai company dealing in gold. “The man also used Dh10 million to buy expensive camels,” said the officer.

When the police raided the accused’s showrooms, they found copies of cheques that the defendant had issued to the investors.

Prosecutors said they received 1,909 complaints against the men and that the money deposited by the victims amount to Dh800 million. Dh2.3 billion financial claims, including the deposited amount, were filed by the victims.

When the defendants were caught, the police seized Dh160 million from them and 395 cars. The public prosecution began procedures to sell the confiscated cars, which are expected to bring in more than Dh52 million at an auction. The trial was adjourned until September 26.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com