DUBAI // A blackmailer pretended to be a woman to convince his victim to send him naked pictures before threatening to post the images online, the Criminal Court heard on Sunday.
Emirati A A, 35, told prosecutors that he first met K M, who he thought was a Lebanese woman, on Instagram and they began to chat on WhatsApp.
“He claimed he was a woman and sent a picture of a naked woman, claiming it was him,” said A A.
“He then later asked me for pictures of myself naked. I refused but later I sent a couple of pictures and asked her to delete them once she saw them,” A A said. But the contact refused to delete the images. “When I asked her why, she told me ‘you will see’.”
About two weeks later, A A said the blackmailer found his profile on LinkedIn and threatened to send the pictures of him naked to his contacts.
“She asked me for a favour in return, which was to help a couple of her friends get jobs with Emirates Airline,” said A A.
“But later she started a Facebook page under my name and threatened to download the pictures on that page.”
A A said she demanded that he buy her a diamond ring and wire US$5,000 (Dh18,365) to Lebanon.
“I reported her immediately to police. They asked me to talk to her and say that I would give her the money in person,” said A A.
The contact agreed to his request and said a friend would attend the meeting to pick up the money and ring. They agreed to meet at Mirdiff City Centre on December 7.
When the contact arrived he was arrested.
During investigations, it turned out that the contact, Tunisian K M, 33, was posing as a woman and demanding the money and the ring.
K M was charged with misusing telecommunications to threaten and blackmail his victim. He denied the charge at Dubai Criminal Court.
“He confessed to us when we arrested him and said that he initially asked for $10,000 but then settled for $5,000,” said policeman F M.
Prosecutors attached copies of six images of the victim while naked, which they found on the iPhone of the defendant.
The next hearing will be on February 8.
salamir@thenational.ae