Con artist has jail term increased to one year

Palestinian jailed for claiming to be a legal consultant after being fired from law firm.

DUBAI // A con artist who was sent to prison for three months for claiming to be a legal consultant had his jail term increased to a year by the Dubai Court of Appeal yesterday.

At the Dubai Criminal Court, Palestinian M A, 38, was convicted of six charges including forgery, use of forged documents and fraudulently charging a man Dh25,000 in return for helping him get a pardon for his two jailed sons.

M A denied the charges and claimed the “forged documents” were given to him in a box along with other papers at the Abdul Qadir Bakheet law firm where he used to work.

The victim, 65-year-old Egyptian A  A, testified that in August 2012 he met M A at the Dubai Prosecution building where he signed an agreement to help him to secure a pardon for his sons through the Ruler’s Court. His sons had been sentenced to four years in prison each for the consumption of hashish.

Prosecutors said that M A forged an arrest warrant cancellation, a deportation order cancellation, an imprisonment order cancellation, a release order, and two other documents issued by the Dubai Public Prosecution. He used these documents and collected Dh25,000 from A A as a down payment.

He was also charged with forging an employment contract, business cards and a letter attributing them to his previous employer. The Court of Appeal sentenced him to an additional month on this charge.

A  A said in records that he met the conman after his sons were given his number by other inmates. “He gave me his business card that said he was a legal consultant and asked for Dh65,000 as fees,” said A  A.

After a few days, A A called M A several times but he never answered.

“I called the landline number on the business card and was informed that he did not work for them anymore and that he had conned several other people, therefore I called police.”

At the police station, A A presented several documents that were given to him by M A.

Palestinian M F, 29, who previously worked as a manager at the law firm, testified that he fired M A after they discovered he did not hold any degrees. M A will be deported after completing his jail term.