Man ‘embezzled Dh50,000 from countryman’ in Dubai

Ethiopian took money for several cars but countryman found out documents were forged when visiting Dubai Customs to see progress of export procedure.

DUBAI // A man allegedly forged customs papers and embezzled Dh50,000 from an investor, a court heard on Thursday.

Prosecutors said Ethiopian S A, 35, took the money from his countryman, S H, 33, after he showed him several cars for sale and arranged a sale.

The alleged victim told prosecutors that he bought several cars that the defendant showed him and handed over a down-payment, with the rest to come after he returned to his home country.

“I wired the remaining amount to the defendant to complete the purchase and ship them. He then showed me pictures of two cars worth Dh46,000,” said S H, a visitor to the UAE.

Records show that when the investor returned to the UAE and met the defendant, he bought several other cars.

In December 2013, the defendant showed S H eight lorries in Port Said, Sharjah, that were for sale for US$280,000 (Dh1.03m).

He gave the defendant $140,000 and wired the remaining money again once he went back to Ethiopia.

Later, the defendant sent S H a picture of a 4x4 Toyota for sale for Dh50,000, using his wife’s email account.

“I sent him $3,000 to cover the cost of shipping the 4x4, then the defendant started stalling when I old him to ship the cars,” S H said.

Records show that the defendant did not answer the phone despite repeated attempts by the investor.

“I flew to Dubai and went to customs to check on my cars using the documents that he emailed me, only to find that they were forged,” S H said.

When he visited the showroom where he bought the cars, he found out that the defendant had only made the down-payments on the vehicles and the cars were sold to others.

Compatriot A J, a friend of the victim, told prosecutors that he met the defendant and his wife in a mall. “The defendant told me that he took Dh1,000,000 to buy the cars [from S H],” he said.

A J said the defendant’s wife told him that her husband did not buy the cars. “She told me that he took the money to import goods from Thailand,” he said.

At Dubai Criminal Court, the defendant denied charges of forgery, using forged documents and embezzling Dh50,000 and $3,000.

The next hearing is on May 25.

[e-mail]