DH1.2M payout for family of man who was kidnapped, murdered

The family of a businessman who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Dubai five years ago will be paid Dh1.2 million in compensation.

The Chinese man had come to the UAE with his female business partner in August 2017, when the latter took the help of four men to kidnap and murder him.

The suspects allegedly arrived in the country before the two could land in Dubai on August 4, 2017.

The following day, they kidnapped the businessman from his hotel and took him to a villa in Jumeirah.

Divulging details of the case, Dr Hasan Elhais, legal consultant from Al Rowaad Advocates who is representing the victim’s family, said: “The victim and his female partner were supposed to stay in the Emirate for a few days after arriving from New Zealand and were to board a plane to Portugal.”

The crime came to light when the victim’s son suspected something amiss when repeated calls to his father in Dubai kept going unanswered after August 5, 2017.

The son promptly took a flight to Dubai, and when he could not trace his father, filed a missing person report.

“We filed a civil case, because the man’s family were deprived of their provider in a very vicious way,” said Dr Elhais.

Police officers located the hotel where the man was staying and video footage from the hotel’s surveillance cameras showed that he was taken to a car by four men and the woman business partner.

Investigators were able to connect the woman and the four men to the man’s disappearance, but the suspects had fled the country on August 8.

However, as luck would have it, a month later, three of the five suspects were arrested after their transit flight landed in Dubai International Airport.

“The civil court’s verdict stated that Dh200,000 compensation amount is for the excruciating pain the man must have endured while being brutally attacked, and for the betrayal he must have felt from his partner,” said Elhais.

He added that a five per cent interest rate would be applicable on the total sum as per the court ruling. “If the amount is not paid now and the convicts wait for their release from prison to pay the amount, it will have increased to Dh2.4 million by then,” said Dr Elhais. He said court records revealed that the woman had planned the crime and asked the men to come to Dubai to carry out the crime so that she could steal the victim’s money.

The suspects buried his body in a deserted area in Abu Dhabi, before they withdrew more than Dh145,000 from his bank account through bank transfers.

Forensic reports reveal the man died of multiple head, chest and back injuries after he was assaulted with solid objects.

While the woman and her son remain at large, the three offenders are serving their sentences in Dubai.