Car sale fraudsters who conned investor out of Dh7m lose appeal against sentence

A pair of fraudsters who posed as owners of a car dealership to trick an investor out of Dh7 million lost an appeal against their jail terms.

A Syrian businessman, 37, and a Jordanian mechanic, 43, arranged to sell a fleet of cars to the unwitting investor despite having no stake in the company.

The men were convicted of forging documents, using forged documents and defrauding the Saudi investor out of the haul of cash.

Dubai Criminal Court gave the younger defendant a twoyear sentence, while his accomplice was sentenced to five years in prison.

The Syrian had found a copy of a letter from an Emirati associate, issuing a special power of attorney allowing another man to run his car company in his absence.

The two offenders made a copy of the document with the businessman’s name, court records show. They deceived the investor into paying for 50 cars. They showed him customs papers and took him to examine the cars at an Aweer showroom and a Dubai Customs yard.

The businessman forged a Dh3m cheque, a sale contract and payment receipts and handed them to the investor in the presence of the mechanic.

“I own a trade firm in Riyadh and heard from a close friend that there were cars for sale in Dubai, belonging to Yemeni traders who were selling them at competitive prices so they could finish them up within three days. I sent my friend (a Saudi trader) to Dubai to examine the cars,” the victim said, according to court records.

The mechanic picked up the friend from the airport and took him to a Range Rover showroom and claimed that he owned it.

After checking the cars, the friend called the investor and asked him to come to Dubai and bring more than Dh11m for 77 cars.

The investor arrived with about Dh1m and was met by the mechanic, who took him to the businessman’s office in Al Muraqqabat.

The businessman claimed he was planning to sell 405 cars for about Dh55m.

The investor paid Dh1m as a first installment and wired the remaining Dh6m in several money transfers after his return to Saudi Arabia.

The businessman gave the victim a Dh3m cheque as a guarantee, which turned out to have been altered.

The two promised the investor to provide him with customs documents within a week but never did and started stalling and failing to answer the victim’s calls.

He called police and reported the incident.

The pair denied all charges in both courts but were convicted.

They will be deported after serving their terms.