Dubai: Two workers have been accused of using playing cards and an ironing board to organise a public gambling game for pedestrians in a bus stop in Naif.
The Bangladeshi duo, 26-year-old S.L. and 24-year-old M.S., were said to have fixed the ironing board in front of a hotel in the parking lot, called on pedestrians to place a bet of Dh50 each and gamble in September.
Prosecution records said a resident called up the police and reported that he saw many men gathering in a suspicious manner in front of the hotel.
A police patrol was dispatched to the parking lot, according to prosecution records, before the suspects were caught red handed organising a gambling game.
The defendants pleaded guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
When asked by Presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat about what they wanted from court, the suspects pleaded for a lenient punishment and forgiveness.
A policeman testified to prosecutors that a patrol was dispatched to the location after a suspicious gathering was reported in front of a hotel.
“My colleague and I headed to the location and found a group of men from different nationalities standing in a circle. We stood between the crowds of people and discovered that the suspects had organised a gambling game. S.L. was running the game cards on an ironing table meanwhile M.S. was calling on the public to participate for Dh50 each. The duo was convincing the gamblers to play and the winner wins double his bet [Dh100] if he guesses the right card. Most of the gamblers ran away but we arrested the main defendants,” the policeman claimed to prosecutors.
The duo were cited admitting during prosecution questioning that they decided to organise a gambling game for the public to get extra cash and increase their monthly incomes.
A ruling will be heard on January 15.
