Bogus dealers on trial for robbing trader of Dh3.1M

dubai — Two men have been charged in a Dubai court with robbing Dh3.1 million from a trader on a street in Al Muraqqabat. Public prosecution records show the 30-year-old Syrian, a 26-year-old Uzbek and an accomplice — who is still at large — attacked the Indian man and snatched the money from him on September 12.

They denied a robbery charge at the Court of First Instance. The complainant is also seeking damages in a civil lawsuit.

The Indian complainant, 42, told the prosecutor that he deals in petroleum products. He got a call from a man informing him about people interested in striking petroleum products sale deals worth more than $3 million. He contacted his bank and arranged the money. On the day of the incident, he collected Dh3.6 million from a money exchange employee in the Port Saeed area and kept it in his suitcase.

He rode in the defendants’ car in which there were three men. The Uzbek defendant sat next to him in the back seat and asked to show him the money. “The moment I showed him the packets of money, he kicked me out of the car. I managed to keep Dh500,000 while they drove off with Dh3.1 million.”

The police learned the accused fled to Sharjah after the robbery. They split the money, rented a flat and returned the car to the rental agency.

A police lieutenant said the two thieves were arrested shortly after the complaint while another accomplice remains at large.