Dubai: Fash Fish, the nick name of a 35 year-old Saudi man from the coastal city of Yanbu, fell in the hands of the police there on charges of leasing virtual rooms for men and woman to date but only online.

The police said the man has succeeded in evading arrest for four years since he established what the authorities believe is the most popular social platform on the web in the kingdom and in the Middle East, based on the traffic.

The illicit business was conducted under the name of Saudi Cool. It used to generate an average monthly income of 13,000 Saudi riyals (Dh12,731) for the suspect according to a police source who conducted the investigations with Fash Fish.

The nick name of the man, whose true identity remained undisclosed, has nothing the do with fish. It means in the colloquial context in Arabic "relax and enjoy yourself".

The man confessed to leasing of each of his digital rooms to those who wanted to meet with people of the opposite sex. His clients chose the nationality of their partners and the age as well.

"The rent of the room varies from 100 riyals to 1,000 riyals depending on how much the female partner in the room agrees to reveal. "Full nudity in front of the camera showing the face of the partner costs 1,000 riyals, less than full identification of both partners [is negotiable]. It is discussed with the customers on case-by-case basis".

Confession

The suspect admitted that he used to open the virtual room after he received the rent from the occupant. "The payment must be made to relative's account .... The payment of the rent was meant to look like a donation for the owner of the bank account who was poor and suffers from a kind of disability."

The suspect told the interrogators that he did not open the account in his name because he was not qualified to have a bank account. Saudi Cool was launched in December 2007 with just chat services but expanded later to include video. The suspect added links to an Islamic library to include the Quran and the Prophet's (PBUH) sayings and other religious services.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Gulf News that the police are looking for a supposed female partner of Fash Fish whose nick name is Bash Bish, who managed the site along with Fash Fish. She enticed female subscribers to the virtual room and promised them full confidentiality.