Men found with US$500,000 in fake notes, Dubai court told

DUBAI // Two men were caught with almost US$500,000 (Dh1.836 million) in fake notes after trying to con a businessman out of US$1,300.

The defendants, aged 42 and 35, from Cameroon, were not in Dubai Criminal Court to face charges of forging currency and attempted fraud.

On October 23 last year one of the defendants contacted the 57-year-old Egyptian businessman after he posted an advert on the classifieds website Dubizzle to sell his bakery in Sharjah.

“He sent me a WhatsApp message introducing himself as a senator from Cameroon. He wrote that he was interested in buying the bakery and that his son was in Dubai and will be contacting me to come to check the shop,” said the owner.

A man claiming to be the senator’s son then arrived at the bakery in a luxurious car and checked the shop before telling the owner he liked it and would recommend it to his father.

“The next day he contacted me and asked to meet. When we got into his car, he took out a US$100 bill with strange stamps on both sides then sprayed it with a white powder and cleaned off the stamps,” said the Egyptian, who then claimed that the man told him of millions in dollars with the same stamps that could be his if he paid US$1,300 to ship the money to Dubai.

The Egyptian got out of the car and later contacted police. The defendants were arrested on October 31 in Al Muraqqabat.

“After the arrest we searched their residence and found packs of fake banknotes as well as tools used in forgery,” said an Emirati police lieutenant.

The men admitted to attempted fraud and forgery charges during questioning. The next hearing will be on February 7.