Dubai: Three men and a woman have been jailed for four years each for luring a resident for massage in a flat where they filmed him nude, blackmailed and coerced him to pay them Dh225,000.

The resident felt tired and needed a massage and when he surfed the internet, he came across a massage advertisement in Tecom area in August 2017.

After calling the advertised number via WhatsApp, the resident drove to the location and went up to the flat at 1am.

Once the door was answered and he walked in, three Nigerian men and their countrywoman pushed the resident inside and forced him to undress after beating him.

Then they filmed him naked and threatened to post his nude images on the internet if he didn’t pay them Dh200,000.

The Nigerian men, aged between 24 and 25, and their 32-year-old countrywoman confined the resident in the flat where they forced him to undress and then coerced him to give his wallet that contained cash and bank cards.

The Nigerians also blackmailed the resident to give them Dh225,000 and coercing him to provide them with his bank card PINs.

The culprits took the resident’s cards to a jewellery store to purchase gold using one of his credit cards, but when the card did not work, the Nigerians took him back to the flat and kept him locked up.

Later, he was allowed to go to the jewellery store to get the gold and then he headed to the nearest police station and reported what had happened.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Nigerian quartet of confining the resident, breaching his privacy and molesting him when they coerced him to undress and filmed him naked in a compromising situation with the woman.

They were also found guilty of beating him, stealing his money and bank cards and using his credit cards to purchase gold.

According to the primary judgement, the court also convicted the defendants of threatening to defame the resident by sending his nude images to his wife and to publish them online if he didn’t pay them Dh200,000.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty in court.

One of the defendants, aged 24, admitted to prosecutors that he conspired with the other defendants to lure the resident for massage at the flat where they filmed him naked and blackmailed him to give them money.

The convicts have appealed their punishments and an appeal hearing will be scheduled soon.