Court jails, fines 2 for assault and robbery

DUBAI: The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced two Africans to 3 years in jail, to be followed by deportation ater serving their sentences, and fined them Dhs183,000, which they stole from two Asian investors.

The suspects also stole 3 phones, documents and bank cheques ater deceiving the victims with a fake Bitcoin currency deal.

They also assaulted the victims inside the house of one of them and threatened them with death. The details of the case date back to July 2022, when an Asian investor filed a report complaining that he had been robbed and assaulted inside his home in the Mankhool area of Dubai.

The complainant added that one of his friends, (the second victim), suggested that they could invest in the digital currency and provided him with the phone number of one of the Bitcoin brokers, whom he contacted and agreed with to buy the currency at his residence.

The complainant indicated in the interrogations that he agreed with the broker on the date of purchasing and on the appointed day, the later came to the place and saw the money inside the bag and let ater 15 minutes, ater agreeing with them to return again with the digital currency seller.

He reportedly waited with his friend at his home for the digital currency seller, but minutes later he received a call from the broker, informing him that the seller had apologised because of his fears of completing the deal in the investor’s residence.

The victims then were surprised by the two suspects knocking on the door and assaulting them.

One of them sprayed a chemical substance on his face and hit his friend.

Then they allegedly tied them up and stole a bag containing Dhs183,000, 3 phones, bank cheques and documents, and fled the place. The complainant then informed the police. According to the case file, a team of investigations collected evidence, located the suspects, and arrested them in a neighbouring emirate.

By searching their residence, the police found the victim’s bag but empty.