Dubai: A father and son have been accused of lending money to people in return for an unlawful commission, a practice that is illegal in the UAE and termed as usury.

The 65-year-old Filipino barber, M.J., and his 36-year-old son, M.T., allegedly lent money to an unidentified number of people and in return they obtained a 10 per cent illegal commission against those loans.

Prosecution records said the duo were arrested after the son was spotted standing in front of an ATM machine using 10 credit cards to withdraw cash over a period of three hours at Jumeirah Beach Road.

The father and his son firmly refuted the accusation of dealing in usury when they entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

An Emirati police lieutenant testified that an informant tipped off the police that M.T. had been using the same ATM for three hours on May 2.

“A police patrol rushed to the scene and busted the defendant. He was taken to Dubai Police Cybercrime Section for questioning...24 credit cards that belonged to others and a cash amount of Dh21,000 were seized in his possession.

“Upon questioning, M.T. confessed that he used to lend money to people against their credit cards as a guarantee. The defendant claimed that the debtors used to give him the pin of each credit card so that whenever the payment was due he would withdraw the amount of the loan in addition to the 10 per cent commission.

“A police patrol raided M.T.’s house and seized around Dh60,000 in cash and 324 credit cards that belonged to other people. Upon confrontation, the suspect confessed that he took the credit cards from the debtors in order to guarantee that they would repay the loans whenever they were due.

M.T. further alleged that his father [M.J.] ran the whole operation. The father confessed, following his arrest, that he ran the operation, claimed the lieutenant.

One of the supposed debtors, a 34-year-old Filipino technician, C.A., claimed that he borrowed Dh500 from his friend M.T. and repaid Dh550.

“I handed him my credit card and the pin. When the payment was due, M.T. withdrew Dh550 from the credit card. I borrowed money from him twice,” testified C.A. The defendants’ lawyer asked presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi to hear prosecution witnesses when the court reconvenes on November 17.