Trader in fraud case falls into police trap

Businessman who fled after issuing bounced cheques worth Dh624m arrested on returning to Dubai for another ‘deal’

An Indian businessman, who fled the UAE after issuing bounced cheques worth Dh624 million was tracked by Dubai Police and arrested at Dubai International Airport as soon as he landed in the UAE hoping to strike another ‘deal’, Dubai Police said yesterday.

The unidentified suspect was hiding in India for a month. Brigadier Ahmad Bin Galita, director of Rafaa police station, said he owned a company in the UAE that specialises in petroleum products.

He defrauded three major companies in Dubai by buying petroleum products from them using dodgy cheques and shipping them to India.

“In the past, he did business worth about Dh1 billion with these companies. This time, he issued three cheques worth Dh624 million before the New Year holiday knowing that the banks would be closed and the companies won’t know he had no credit in his account,” Brig Bin Galita said.

“We were alerted that he was coming back to the country for another business deal and arrested him on arrival at Dubai International Airport.”

The businessman told officers that he had some troubles in his business and couldn’t honour the cheques. He has been charged with fraud.

Rafaa Eagles

Rafaa police have a special team called Rafaa Eagles, who specialise in tracking wanted people, especially those involved in financial crimes. “The team of eight officers has solved many financial crimes. Most cases in Rafaa station are about bounced cheques so we decided to create the team,” Brig Bin Galita said.