Dubai security guard ‘robbed by con man posing as police officer’

Security guard says defendant flashed police ID and started intimidating him with questions about his residency before taking the cash from his wallet, though he thought he was being fined.

DUBAI // A security guard thought he was being fined by a police officer when he was in fact being robbed, prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Indian guard said he was sitting on a staircase in Al Riffa at about 5pm on October 20 last year when a man ordered him to stand up and show his Emirates ID.

“He said he was a police officer and flashed a police ID then he snatched my wallet looking for my ID card,” said the guard, adding that the man started questioning him about his residency.

“I told him my residency was issued from Abu Dhabi but I worked in Dubai.”

The defendant allegedly screamed at the guard, slapped him and told him he was breaking the law by working in Dubai when his residency visa was issued in Abu Dhabi.

The guard did not know what to do. He said he was scared but the defendant told him he would let him go this time and gave him back his wallet.

“I checked it and the money was gone, which I thought was a fine for violating the law, as the defendant said,” the victim told prosecutors.

Three weeks later, as he met with some friends, the guard mentioned being fined for what he thought was a breach of the law. His friends asked him for details then told him that he had been robbed and urged him to go to police.

The guard reported the incident to Al Riffa police station and a week later was asked to come and identify the man, which he did.

Prosecutors charged the Pakistani defendant, 25, with theft, impersonation and issuing insults. Later he was additionally charged with issuing threats after he visited the guard and threatened to kill him if he did not drop charges against him.

In court, the defendant denied the charges and said that the guard made up the story because he found out that the guard had been bootlegging.

“I came to know about his illegal business and I, as well as other flatmates who also know about his business, asked him to stop visiting us at the accommodation because we didn’t want any trouble. When he didn’t stop, I told him he either stops coming to my accommodation or I would call police, so he fabricated all this to get me in trouble,” the defendant said.

He also told judges he had four witnesses in court who saw all the confrontations with the guard regarding the bootlegging and who could back up his story. The court listened to two witnesses.

A verdict is expected on March 7.