Attacked friend was scammed $120,000

Promised to help her open plastic surgery business

DUBAI // An Egyptian man raped a friend in her hotel room after conning her out of the US$120,000 she gave him to help her open a business.

The man, 32, and the Brazilian plastic surgeon, 38, met in Egypt in 2011.

They kept contact and became friends to the point that she even performed procedures on some of his family.

“In 2014 he proposed to me and I refused,” she said. “Then he suggested that I open a clinic in Dubai since he worked there. We agreed that he handle the procedures and I sent him the cash.” She came to Dubai several times to follow up but the clinic was not opened and her money was never returned.

“I didn’t want to file charges because of our friendship and I knew his mother,” she said. “On March 13 this year I arrived in Dubai after he insisted I come. He told me it was about the clinic. “About 8am on March 14 he sent me a text asking for my room number. I told him we’ll meet in a cafe but an a hour later he texted asking me to open the door as he was outside.”

She said he attacked as soon as she opened the door. He gagged her, scratched her face, threw her on the bed and raped her. DNA samples found on her body were matched to his.

In June, he said sex with the woman was consensual. However, Dubai Criminal Court found him guilty and sentenced him to a year in jail, after which he will be deported.