Man not guilty of conning lovestruck women out of Dh250,000 by posing as footballer

Emirati found not guilty by Dubai court due to a lack of evidence.

DUBAI // An unemployed Emirati has been cleared of defrauding two women of Dh257,000 while posing as a famous footballer looking for a bride.

Prosecutors said that in 2015 the man, 29, pretended to be Mohammed Fawzi, then a player for Al Ain, while chatting on social media with a woman who arranged marriages.

“The woman provided me with his contact details and told me he was looking for a wife,” said an Emirati woman, 36. “After a while he convinced me that to secure our future he needed Dh247,000, so I gave it to him.”

The second woman, 31, said she also contacted him and gave him Dh10,000.

They said they discovered they were being conned when they read that the real Fawzi was getting married.

Dubai Criminal Court acquitted the man of fraudulently obtaining money and threatening to defame one of the women if she did not drop charges against him, because of a lack of evidence.