Police ‘stopped Porsche driver and stole cash and phone’

Two on-duty policemen stopped a Porsche and stole the driver’s phone and Dh3,000 in cash, a court has heard.

Dubai Criminal Court was told the officers – a Sudanese, 23, and an Emirati, 31 – and a translator, 33, hatched a plan to steal from the driver.

“The Sudanese translator was a friend of the victim and of the officers,” prosecutors said.

The translator, who speaks Mandarin, met the Chinese driver at a nightclub in Jumeirah on August 10 last year.

“He pretended he was an Emirati and we spoke for a while,” said the Porsche driver, 31, a manager at a private company.

He said that he went with the translator to a hotel and, on the way, they were stopped by police on Sheikh Zayed Road.

“Two officers approached and asked for my licence, then one of them snatched my phone and the other took me to the patrol car,” the manager said.

“Then my friend asked me for Dh27,000 to solve the problem. I told him I didn’t have that amount.”

The officers told him he could be jailed for three months, then spoke to the translator,.

“I didn’t know what they said but then my friend asked me to hand over whatever cash I had, so I gave him Dh3,000,” the Chinese man said.

The translator asked for Dh17,000 to solve the problem, but the manager said he did not have the money.

“He asked me for a family member who he could negotiate with, then drove me to International City, where we waited for my brother,” he said. “He took my ATM card then I fled.”

The officers were charged with theft and illegal arrest. Only one was in court yesterday. He denied the charges.

The translator denied aiding and abetting. The next hearing is scheduled for August 6.